By all appearances, Montana's Fort Belknap fits the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) definition of a food desert perfectly. There are no supermarkets on the 1,000-square-mile reservation. Most residents of this Indian reservation, especially those living on the southern end of the reservation, must drive long distances to buy…

Academic Health Centers and nonprofit hospitals are exploring strategies to meet Affordable Care Act mandates requiring tax-exempt institutions to address community health needs, which commonly include major chronic illnesses. We explore the implications of this regulatory landscape, describing methods that nonprofit health care institutions are…

We present several modules that address social justice issues in an introductory statistics course. The activities consider possible disparities of housing location, language spoken at home, and job sector as they relate to, respectively, access to healthy foods, air pollution via proximity to traffic, and health concerns via proximity to fracking…

Major supermarket chains increasingly are requiring their produce suppliers to provide evidence of compliance with on-farm food safety standards, known as Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs). To develop a relevant GAP training curriculum that meets the needs of Pennsylvania growers, supermarkets that operate in the state were surveyed to determine…

The purpose of our article is twofold. First, we introduce a framework for U.S. Extension educators to measure the extent of food access at any scale when information about food carried by retailers is limited. Second, we create a baseline for the Ohio Food Policy Council so that work to increase food access in rural areas will have a benchmark to…

Background: Obesity is a major concern among American Indians and Hispanics. The Child Health Initiative for Lifelong Eating and Exercise (CHILE) is an evidence-based intervention to prevent obesity in children enrolled in 16 Head Start (HS) Centers in rural communities. The design and implementation of CHILE are described. Methods: CHILE uses a…

The "State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables, 2009" provides for the first time information on fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption and policy and environmental support within each state. Fruits and vegetables, as part of a healthy diet, are important for optimal child growth, weight management, and chronic disease…

Concern over what kids eat-in and out of school has exploded in the past two years. Study after study shows that American children are becoming overweight and obese in dangerously high numbers. This is because of the proliferation of super-sized meals, ubiquitous fast-food restaurants, and less time and fewer options for physical activity are…

Phil Gainous is in a sticky spot. The board of education in Montgomery County, Md., decided this was the year when sugary sodas and non-nutritious snacks must disappear from high school vending machines, replaced by healthier options. Gainous isn't against promoting healthy habits. But as the veteran principal of Montgomery Blair High School, the…