Introduction

Children consume much of their daily energy intake at school. School district policies, state laws, and national policies, such as revisions to the US Department of Agriculture’s school meals standards, may affect the types of foods and beverages offered in school lunches over time.

Methods

This study evaluated changes and disparities in school lunch characteristics from 2006–2007 to 2013–2014. Data were obtained from annual cross-sectional surveys at 4,630 public elementary schools participating in the National School Lunch Program. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to examine lunch characteristics.

Results

The percentage of schools regularly offering healthful items such as vegetables (other than potatoes), fresh fruit, salad bars, whole grains, and more healthful pizzas increased significantly from 2006–2007 to 2013–2014, and the percentage of schools offering less healthful items such as fried potatoes, regular pizza, and high-fat milks decreased significantly. Nevertheless, disparities were evident in 2013–2014. Schools in the West were significantly more likely to offer salad bars than were schools in the Northeast, Midwest, or South (adjusted prevalence: West, 66.3%; Northeast, 22.3%; Midwest, 20.8%; South, 18.3%). Majority-black or majority-Latino schools were significantly less likely to offer fresh fruit than were predominantly white schools (adjusted prevalence: majority black, 61.3%; majority Latino, 73.0%; predominantly white, 87.8%). Schools with low socioeconomic status were significantly less likely to offer salads regularly than were schools with middle or high socioeconomic status (adjusted prevalence: low, 38.5%; middle, 47.4%; high, 59.3%).

Conclusion

Much progress has been made in improving the quality of school lunches in US public elementary schools, but additional opportunities for improvement remain.

Women with breast cancer often experience weight gain during and after treatment, significantly increasing risk for recurrence as well as all-cause mortality. Based on a growing body of evidence, meditative movement practices may be effective for weight management. First, we describe the effects of stress on factors associated with weight gain for breast cancer survivors. Then, a model is proposed that utilizes existing evidence to suggest how meditative movement supports behavioral, psychological, and neurohormonal changes that may explain weight loss. Application of the model suggests how a novel "mindful-body-wisdom" approach may work to help reduce weight for this at-risk group.

Objective: Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) cash value vouchers (CVV) have been inconsistently redeemed in Arizona. The objective of this study was to explore perceived barriers to use of CVV as well as strategies participants use to overcome them.

Design: Eight focus groups were conducted to explore attitudes and behaviors related to CVV use.

Setting: Focus groups were conducted at 2 WIC clinics in metro-Phoenix, AZ.

Participants: Participants in WIC who were at least 18 years of age and primarily responsible for buying and preparing food for their households.

Phenomenon of interest: Perceived barriers to CVV use and strategies used to maximize their purchasing value.

Analysis: Transcripts were analyzed using a general inductive approach to identify emergent themes.

Results: Among 41 participants, multiple perceived barriers emerged, such as negative interactions in stores or confusion over WIC rules. Among experienced shoppers, WIC strategies also emerged to deal with barriers and maximize CVV value, including strategic choice of times and locations at which to shop and use of price-matching, rewards points, and other ways to increase purchasing power.

Conclusions and implications: Arizona WIC participants perceived barriers that limit easy redemption of CVV. Useful strategies were also identified that could be important to explore further to improve WIC CVV purchasing experiences.

Background: Aspects of the food environment such as the availability of different types of food stores have recently emerged as key modifiable factors that may contribute to the increased prevalence of obesity. Given that many of these studies have derived their results based on secondary datasets and the relationship of food stores with individual weight outcomes has been reported to vary by store type, it is important to understand the extent to which often-used secondary data correctly classify food stores. We evaluated the classification bias of food stores in Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) and InfoUSA commercial business lists.

Methods: We performed a full census in 274 randomly selected census tracts in the Chicago metropolitan area and collected detailed store attributes inside stores for classification. Store attributes were compared by classification match status and store type. Systematic classification bias by census tract characteristics was assessed in multivariate regression.

Results: D&B had a higher classification match rate than InfoUSA for supermarkets and grocery stores, while InfoUSA was higher for convenience stores. Both lists were more likely to correctly classify large supermarkets, grocery stores, and convenience stores with more cash registers and different types of service counters (supermarkets and grocery stores only). The likelihood of a correct classification match for supermarkets and grocery stores did not vary systemically by tract characteristics whereas convenience stores were more likely to be misclassified in predominately Black tracts.

Conclusion: Researches can rely on classification of food stores in commercial datasets for supermarkets and grocery stores whereas classifications for convenience and specialty food stores are subject to some systematic bias by neighborhood racial/ethnic composition.

Introduction: Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities (HKHC) is an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to prevent obesity among high-risk children by changing local policies, systems, and environments. In 2009, 105 community partnerships applied for funding from HKHC. Later that year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released recommended community strategies to prevent obesity by changing environments and policies. The objective of this analysis was to describe the strategies proposed by the 41 HKHC partnerships that received funding and compare them to the CDC recommendations.

Methods: We analyzed the funded proposals to assess the types and prevalence of the strategies proposed and mapped them onto the CDC recommendations.

Results: The most prevalent strategies proposed by HKHC-funded partnerships were providing incentives to retailers to locate and serve healthier foods in underserved areas, improving mechanisms for purchasing food from farms, enhancing infrastructure that supports walking and cycling, and improving access to outdoor recreational facilities.

Conclusion: The strategies proposed by HKHC partnerships were well aligned with the CDC recommendations. The popular strategies proposed by HKHC partnerships were those for which there were existing examples of successful implementation. Our analysis provides an example of how information from communities, obtained through grant-writing efforts, can be used to assess the status of the field, guide future research, and provide direction for future investments.

Objective: To evaluate five popular fast-food chains' menus in relation to dietary guidance.

Design: Menus posted on chains' websites were coded using the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies and MyPyramid Equivalents Database to enable Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005) scores to be assigned. Dollar or value and kids' menus and sets of items promoted as healthy or nutritious were also assessed.

Setting: Five popular fast-food chains in the USA.

Subjects: Not applicable.

Results: Full menus scored lower than 50 out of 100 possible points on the HEI-2005. Scores for Total Fruit, Whole Grains and Sodium were particularly dismal. Compared with full menus, scores on dollar or value menus were 3 points higher on average, whereas kids' menus scored 10 points higher on average. Three chains marketed subsets of items as healthy or nutritious; these scored 17 points higher on average compared with the full menus. No menu or subset of menu items received a score higher than 72 out of 100 points.

Conclusions: The poor quality of fast-food menus is a concern in light of increasing away-from-home eating, aggressive marketing to children and minorities, and the tendency for fast-food restaurants to be located in low-income and minority areas. The addition of fruits, vegetables and legumes; replacement of refined with whole grains; and reformulation of offerings high in sodium, solid fats and added sugars are potential strategies to improve fast-food offerings. The HEI may be a useful metric for ongoing monitoring of fast-food menus.

Objective: The Social Ecological Model (SEM) has been used to describe the aetiology of childhood obesity and to develop a framework for prevention. The current paper applies the SEM to data collected at multiple levels, representing different layers of the SEM, and examines the unique and relative contribution of each layer to children's weight status.

Design: Cross-sectional survey of randomly selected households with children living in low-income diverse communities.

Setting: A telephone survey conducted in 2009-2010 collected information on parental perceptions of their neighbourhoods, and household, parent and child demographic characteristics. Parents provided measured height and weight data for their children. Geocoded data were used to calculate proximity of a child's residence to food and physical activity outlets.

Subjects: Analysis based on 560 children whose parents participated in the survey and provided measured heights and weights.

Results: Multiple logistic regression models were estimated to determine the joint contribution of elements within each layer of the SEM as well as the relative contribution of each layer. Layers of the SEM representing parental perceptions of their neighbourhoods, parent demographics and neighbourhood characteristics made the strongest contributions to predicting whether a child was overweight or obese. Layers of the SEM representing food and physical activity environments made smaller, but still significant, contributions to predicting children's weight status.

Conclusions: The approach used herein supports using the SEM for predicting child weight status and uncovers some of the most promising domains and strategies for childhood obesity prevention that can be used for designing interventions.