Publications by authors named "Briefel R"
NHANES needs urgent attention to ensure its future, which is facing emerging challenges associated with data collection, stagnant funding that has undercut innovation, and the increased call for granular data for subpopulations and groups at risk. The concerns do not rest merely on securing more funding but focus on the need for a constructive review of the survey to explore new approaches and identify appropriate change. This white paper, developed under the auspices of the ASN's Committee on Advocacy and Science Policy (CASP), is a call to the nutrition community to advocate for and support activities to prepare NHANES for future success in a changing nutrition world.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Poor diet quality among children can lead to poor health, development, and academic achievement. Child nutrition assistance programs aim to improve diet quality among children.
Objective: This study tested the impact of the Packed Promise intervention on diet quality among low-income children in Chickasaw Nation territory.
Background: The 2010 Child Nutrition reauthorization called for the independent evaluation of innovative strategies to reduce the risk of childhood hunger or improve the food security status of households with children.
Objective: The research question was whether the Packed Promise intervention reduces child food insecurity (FI-C) among low-income households with children.
Design: This study was a cluster randomized controlled trial of 40 school districts and 4,750 eligible, consented households within treatment and control schools.
Background: To reduce childhood hunger, the US Department of Agriculture funded a set of demonstration projects, including the Nevada Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids (HHFK) project.
Objective: The study objective was to test whether the Nevada HHFK project reduced child food insecurity (FI-C) among low-income households with young children.
Design: Households were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups, with outcomes measured using household surveys and administrative data.
Background: Federal summer meals programs serve less than one-sixth of children that receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year. To address this gap in food assistance for school-aged children, the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (SEBTC) Demonstrations provided summer food assistance in the form of electronic benefits transfer cards to households with school-aged children certified for free or reduced-price meals during the school year.
Methods: Over 2011-2013, the SEBTC demonstrations were evaluated by using a random assignment design.
Objective: To explore eating patterns and snacking among US infants, toddlers and pre-school children.
Design: The Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) 2008 was a cross-sectional national survey of children aged 6-47 months, weighted to reflect US age and racial/ethnic distributions. Dietary data were collected using one multiple-pass 24h recall.
Background: The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfers for Children (SEBTC) demonstration piloted summer food assistance through electronic benefit transfers (EBTs), providing benefits either through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) EBT.
Objective: To inform food assistance policy and describe how demonstrations using WIC and SNAP models differed in benefit take-up and impacts on food security and children's food consumption.
Design: Sites chose to deliver SEBTC using the SNAP or WIC EBT system.
Introduction: Solving the childhood obesity problem will require strategies for changes in policy, the environment, the community, and the family. Filling the data gap for children younger than 4 years could facilitate interventions aimed at this critical age group. The objective of this study was to describe parents' and caregivers' perceptions of the healthfulness of their young child's diet and body weight and to assess their adherence to the American Academy of Pediatrics' 5-2-1-0 recommendations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To describe feeding practices and food consumption of infants and children participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Design: National, cross-sectional analysis of 24-hour dietary recall data from the 2008 Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study.
Participants: Random sample of infants (6-11 months of age), toddlers (12-23 months of age), and preschoolers (24-47 months of age); WIC participants (n = 794) and nonparticipants (n = 2,477).
This report from the field describes the design, implementation, and early evaluation results of the Healthy Weight Collaborative, a federally-supported learning collaborative to develop, test, and disseminate an integrated change package of six promising, evidence-based clinical and community-based strategies to prevent and treat obesity for children and families.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough pediatric providers have traditionally assessed and treated childhood obesity and associated health-related conditions in the clinic setting, there is a recognized need to expand the provider role. We reviewed the literature published from 2005 to 2012 to (1) provide examples of the spectrum of roles that primary care providers can play in the successful treatment and prevention of childhood obesity in both clinic and community settings and (2) synthesize the evidence of important characteristics, factors, or strategies in successful community-based models. The review identified 96 articles that provide evidence of how primary care providers can successfully prevent and treat childhood obesity by coordinating efforts within the primary care setting and through linkages to obesity prevention and treatment resources within the community.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Identify disparities by race/ethnicity and obesity status in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and other beverages among United States schoolchildren to help tailor interventions to reduce childhood obesity.
Design: Secondary data analysis using beverage intake data from 24-hour dietary recalls and measured height and weight from the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study, a 2004-2005 nationally representative sample of school-aged children and schools.
Setting: Schools participating in the National School Lunch Program (n = 287).
Because childhood obesity is such a threat to the physical, mental, and social health of youth, there is a great need to identify effective strategies to reduce its prevalence. The objective of this study was to estimate the mean calories from added sugars that are saved by switching sugar-sweetened beverages (including soda, fruit-flavored drinks, and sport drinks) and flavored milks consumed to unflavored low-fat milk (<1% fat) at meals and water between meals. Simulation analyses used 24-hour dietary recall data from the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study (n=2,314), a 2005 national cross-sectional study of schools and students participating in the National School Lunch Program, to estimate changes in mean calories from added sugars both at and away from school.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To describe the food consumption patterns of US children aged 2 and 3 years.
Design: Descriptive analysis of data collected in the Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study 2008 based on a single 24-hour dietary recall collected by telephone.
Subjects: A national random sample of children aged 2 and 3 years (n=1,461).
Objectives: To describe current infant-feeding practices and current food group consumption patterns of infants and toddlers and to compare 2008 data with 2002 data to identify shifts in these practices and food consumption over time.
Design: The Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) 2008 is a cross-sectional survey of a national random sample of US children from birth up to age 4 years. Data for three age subgroups (infants 4 to 5.
Objectives: To assess the usual nutrient intakes of 3,273 US infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, aged 0 to 47 months, surveyed in the Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) 2008; and to compare data on the usual nutrient intakes for the two waves of FITS conducted in 2002 and 2008.
Design: The FITS 2008 is a cross-sectional survey of a national random sample of US children from birth through age 47 months. Usual nutrient intakes derived from foods, beverages, and supplements were ascertained using a telephone-administered, multiple-pass 24-hour dietary recall.
Objective: Describe the study design, data collection methods, 24-hour dietary recall protocol, and sample characteristics of the Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) 2008.
Design: A cross-sectional study designed to obtain information on the diets and feeding patterns of US infants, toddlers, and preschoolers ages birth to 47 months. Telephone interviews with parents and caregivers were conducted from June 2008 through January 2009 and included a household interview to recruit the household and collect information on household and child demographics and nutrition-related characteristics, and a dietary interview, including a 24-hour dietary recall collected using the 2008 Nutrition Data System for Research.
Objective: To examine the distribution of diabetic medications among adults with type 2 diabetes, and the association between glucose control and treatment approach in the US population.
Methods: Interview and prescription medication data from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used to determine the treatment approach for US adults with type 2 diabetes. Mean glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and the proportion of adults meeting recommended guidelines for glucose control were estimated for each treatment approach.
Background: Changes to school food environments and practices that lead to improved dietary behavior are a powerful strategy to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic.
Objectives: To estimate the effects of school food environments and practices, characterized by access to competitive foods and beverages, school lunches, and nutrition promotion, on children's consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, low-nutrient energy-dense foods, and fruits/vegetables at school.
Design: Cross-sectional study using data from the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study, a nationally representative sample of public school districts, schools, and children in school year 2004-2005.
Background: Access to foods and beverages on school campuses, at home, and other locations affects children's diet quality, energy intake, and risk of obesity.
Objectives: To describe patterns of consumption of "empty calories"--low-nutrient, energy-dense foods, including sugar-sweetened beverages--by eating location among National School Lunch Program (NSLP) participants and nonparticipants.
Design: Cross-sectional study using 24-hour dietary recall data from the 2004-2005 third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study.