Background: Nutrition plays a vital role in children's physical and emotional health. More than half of school age children's calories are provided in the school food environment, making school interventions an opportunity to address child nutrition. Methods: The Creating Health Environments for Schools (CHEFS) program is designed to leverage…

Background: Recent efforts supporting children's dietary behaviors suggest the importance of food literacy (FL), which is a multidimensional concept that encompasses food-related knowledge, skills, and behaviors. To date, FL has been largely informed by adult and adolescent research. Aims: To assess the FL experiences, perceived skills, and…

Purpose: Food waste represents a major sustainability challenge with environmental, economic, social and health implications. Institutions of higher education contribute to generating food waste while serving as models in championing sustainability solutions. An experiential learning project was implemented as part of two university courses in a…

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in Americans. Rural African American (AA) adults are disproportionately affected by CVD--a disease whose risk can be mitigated by a healthy diet and regular physical activity. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Living in Victory Everyday…

Youth obesity is a major public health problem in the United States, especially among urban-based, minority youth. The B'More Healthy Communities for Kids (BHCK) trial worked at multiple levels of the food environment, including carryouts, to increase access to and demand for healthy, affordable foods. The objective of this article is to describe…

A growing body of evidence has highlighted an association between a lack of access to nutritious, affordable food (e.g., through full-service grocery stores [FSGs]), poor diet, and increased risk for obesity. In response, there has been growing interest among policy makers in encouraging the siting of supermarkets in "food deserts," that…

Background: Because Americans commonly consume restaurant foods with poor dietary quality, effective interventions are needed to improve food choices at restaurants. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate a restaurant-based intervention to help customers select and restaurants promote heart healthy menu items with healthful…

Background: Latinos in the United States are at heightened risk for obesity and health disparities, yet community-based interventions to promote health are limited. Purpose: This research examined the feasibility and efficacy of a culturally relevant obesity prevention program (Vivir Sano), which included stress reduction and behavioral lifestyle…

The health and well-being of adolescents continue to be in jeopardy due to a lack of proper nutrition combined with a sedentary lifestyle. A collaborative effort between two Maryland entities, Prince Georges County Family and Consumer Sciences Department and the University of Maryland Expanded Food and Nutrition Program, involved a…

Adolescent boys living in disadvantaged communities are considered a vulnerable group at risk for developing obesity and associated health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension and type-2 diabetes. While short-term health promotion programmes often produce effective results during the implementation of the intervention, according…

Background: Effective childhood obesity prevention programs for preschool children are limited in number and focus on changes in the child care environment rather than the home environment. Purpose: The purpose of this project was to develop and test the feasibility of a home environment obesity prevention program that incorporates mindful eating…

Objective: Preliminary evaluation in the United States (US) of a school-based fruit and vegetable (F/V) intervention, known as the "Food Dudes" (FD) program, developed in the United Kingdom. Methods: Over 16 days (Phase 1), elementary-school children (n = 253) watched short videos featuring heroic peers (the FD) eating F/V and received a…

Cash transfer based social protection can potentially contribute positively upon targeted beneficiaries on a variety of developmental aspects. This study explored the pilot and scaled-up phases of the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer program to determine impacts towards improving under-eight children's access to food, education, and health…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the feasibility of implementing a healthy lifestyles intervention to maintain or achieve healthy weight for low-income young adults in vocational education. Design/methodology/approach: Non-randomized, quasi-experimental feasibility test of a ten-week intervention with follow-up assessment designed…

"Entre Familia: Reflejos de Salud" was a successful family-based randomized controlled trial designed to improve dietary behaviors and intake among U.S. Latino families, specifically fruit and vegetable intake. The novel intervention design merged a community health worker ("promotora") model with an entertainment-education…