The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the country's largest food assistance program, providing more than $6.2 billion in supplemental benefits to over 42 million people with low incomes to purchase groceries each month. The SNAP Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Services grant program (SNAP-Ed) equips people eligible for…

Background: Youth from low-income, racially and ethnically diverse families are at increased risk for academic challenges and nutritionally inadequate diets. Summer programs offer an opportunity to foster interest and engage students in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) education while addressing summer learning loss.…

Social marketing campaigns are effective in promoting health behavior changes in individuals and communities. Mississippi State University Extension Service's (MSU Extension) Office of Nutrition Education launched a statewide social marketing campaign branded HappyHealthy to target nutrition and healthy lifestyle-related behaviors of Supplemental…

To ensure that all children in the Altgeld-Riverdale community are succeeding by third grade, BPI (Business and Professional People for the Public Interest) launched the Altgeld-Riverdale Early Learning Initiative in 2012. The goal of the initiative is to establish a community-based system that can support the developmental needs of the…

College students, on average, do not consume enough fruits and vegetables. Contributing to poor eating habits is an overall decline in young adults' cooking skills as compared to previous decades, with today's college students often relying on ubiquitous convenience food options. The detriments associated with these food choices are linked to a…

We conducted case studies on four Connecticut dairy farms to evaluate how well farmers implemented their nutrient management plans (NMPs). Our findings can help Extension educators develop programs to improve NMPs and NMP adoption by farmers. We identified three educational topic areas that would likely increase NMP understanding and acceptance:…

Evaluating initiatives implemented across multiple settings can elucidate how various contextual factors may influence both implementation and outcomes. Understanding context is especially critical when the same program has varying levels of success across settings. We present a framework for evaluating contextual factors affecting an initiative…

The Growing Healthy Kids Program is a school-based nutrition education program that teaches students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade about healthy eating, physical activity, and how their body uses food. Pre- and post-knowledge data is collected from the students to measure changes in nutrition knowledge. In the first 2 years of the program,…

Fidelity in implementing an intervention is critical to accurately determine and interpret the effects of an intervention. It is important to monitor the manner in which the behavioral intervention is implemented (e.g. adaptations, delivery as intended and dose). Few interventions are implemented with 100% fidelity. In this study, high school…

Section 104(a) of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 made the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) available to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) and schools in high poverty areas. Under the CEP, families are not required to submit applications for free or reducedprice (FRP) meals, and schools must provide free lunch and breakfast…

Integrating organizationally targeted wellness strategies into the routine conduct of business has shown promise in engaging captive audiences at highest risk of obesity and obesity-related health consequences. This paper presents a process evaluation of the implementation of the University of California, Los Angeles, Working Out Regularly Keeps…

Background: In elementary grades, comprehensive health education curricula have demonstrated effectiveness in addressing singular health issues. The Michigan Model for Health (MMH) was implemented and evaluated to determine its impact on nutrition, physical fitness, and safety knowledge and skills. Methods: Schools (N = 52) were randomly assigned…

This report responds to the requirement of Public Law 110-246 to assess the effectiveness of State and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals. Under direct certification, children are determined eligible for free school meals without the need for household applications by using data from other means-tested programs. The…

This report responds to the legislative requirement of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L.110-246) to assess the effectiveness of State and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Direct certification is a process conducted by the States and by local…

The Cooking with a Chef a culinary nutrition education series teams a chef and nutrition educator during cooking sessions with parents. Pilot program results were shared in the "Journal of Extension" in 2006. This formative evaluation presents data collected through focus groups and individual interviews examining program implementation,…