Evaluation of the New York City Green Carts program.

Access to fresh fruits and vegetables is a concern, particularly among low-income populations. Mobile vending is one strategy to expand produce availability and access to increase consumption. In 2008, New York City launched a mobile vending initiative, Green Carts.

Increasing access to fruits and vegetables: perspectives from the New York City experience.

Broad recognition now exists that price, availability, and other structural factors are meaningful barriers to fruit and vegetable consumption, particularly among low-income adults. Beginning in 2005, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene used the social-ecological model to develop a multifaceted effort to increase fruit and vegetable access citywide, with emphasis in low-income neighborhoods. Overall, the percentage of New York City adults who reported consuming no fruits and vegetables in the previous day decreased slightly over a 10-year period (2002: 14.

Reducing sugary drink consumption: New York City's approach.

Studies have linked the consumption of sugary drinks to weight gain, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Since 2006, New York City has taken several actions to reduce consumption. Nutrition standards limited sugary drinks served by city agencies.

A water availability intervention in New York City public schools: influence on youths' water and milk behaviors.

Objectives: We determined the influence of "water jets" on observed water and milk taking and self-reported fluid consumption in New York City public schools.

Methods: From 2010 to 2011, before and 3 months after water jet installation in 9 schools, we observed water and milk taking in cafeterias (mean 1000 students per school) and surveyed students in grades 5, 8, and 11 (n=2899) in the 9 schools that received water jets and 10 schools that did not. We performed an observation 1 year after implementation (2011-2012) with a subset of schools.

Evaluation design of New York City's regulations on nutrition, physical activity, and screen time in early child care centers.

This article describes the multi-method cross-sectional design used to evaluate New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's regulations of nutrition, physical activity, and screen time for children aged 3 years or older in licensed group child care centers. The Center Evaluation Component collected data from a stratified random sample of 176 licensed group child care centers in New York City. Compliance with the regulations was measured through a review of center records, a facility inventory, and interviews of center directors, lead teachers, and food service staff.

Measurement of compliance with New York City's regulations on beverages, physical activity, and screen time in early child care centers.

Introduction: Policy interventions designed to change the nutrition environment and increase physical activity in child care centers are becoming more common, but an understanding of the implementation of these interventions is yet to be developed. The objective of this study was to explore the extent and consistency of compliance with a policy intervention designed to promote nutrition and physical activity among licensed child care centers in New York City.

Methods: We used a multimethod cross-sectional approach and 2 independent components of data collection (Center Evaluation Component and Classroom Evaluation Component).

Rationale for New York City's regulations on nutrition, physical activity, and screen time in early child care centers.

Childhood obesity is associated with health risks in childhood, and it increases the risk of adult obesity, which is associated with many chronic diseases. Therefore, implementing policies that may prevent obesity at young ages is important. In 2007, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene implemented new regulations for early childhood centers to increase physical activity, limit screen time, and provide healthful beverage offerings (ie, restrict sugar-sweetened beverages for all children, restrict whole milk for those older than 2 years, restrict juice to beverages that are 100% juice and limit serving of juice to only 6 ounces per day, and make water available and accessible at all times).

Insights and implications for health departments from the evaluation of New York City's regulations on nutrition, physical activity, and screen time in child care centers.

In 2006, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, seeking to address the epidemic of childhood obesity, issued new regulations on beverages, physical activity, and screen time in group child care centers. An evaluation was conducted to identify characteristics of New York City child care centers that have implemented these regulations and to examine how varying degrees of implementation affected children's behaviors. This article discusses results of this evaluation and how findings can be useful for other public health agencies.

The effects of changes in physical fitness on academic performance among New York City youth.

Purpose: To evaluate whether a change in fitness is associated with academic outcomes in New York City (NYC) middle-school students using longitudinal data and to evaluate whether this relationship is modified by student household poverty.

Methods: This was a longitudinal study of 83,111 New York City middle-school students enrolled between 2006-2007 and 2011-2012. Fitness was measured as a composite percentile based on three fitness tests and categorized based on change from the previous year.

Severe obesity among children in New York City public elementary and middle schools, school years 2006-07 through 2010-11.

Introduction: Although studies have shown that childhood obesity overall is on the decline among New York City (NYC) public school children, the prevalence of severe childhood obesity has not been studied.

Methods: We used height and weight measurements of 947,765 NYC public school students aged 5 to 14 years in kindergarten through 8th grade (K-8), from school years 2006-07 through 2010-11. We used age- and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) percentiles according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts to define childhood obesity (BMI ≥ 95th percentile) and severe childhood obesity (BMI ≥120% of 95th percentile) and to identify biologically implausible values (BIV).

The impact of New York City's Health Bucks Program on electronic benefit transfer spending at farmers markets, 2006-2009.

Introduction: Increasing the accessibility and affordability of fresh produce is an important strategy for municipalities combatting obesity and related health conditions. Farmers markets offer a promising venue for intervention in urban settings, and in recent years, an increasing number of programs have provided financial incentives to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. However, few studies have explored the impact of these programs on use of SNAP benefits at farmers markets.

An observational evaluation of move-to-improve, a classroom-based physical activity program, New York City schools, 2010.

Introduction: Few children in the United States achieve the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Identifying successful interventions that increase physical activity for children is critical. This observational study evaluated the effects of Move-To-Improve (MTI), a classroom-based physical education program designed for kindergarten to third-grade teachers in New York City public schools.

A menu for health: changes to New York City school food, 2001 to 2011.

Background: The high prevalence of obesity puts children at risk for chronic diseases, increases health care costs, and threatens to reduce life expectancy. As part of the response to this epidemic, the New York City (NYC) Department of Education (DOE)--the nation's largest school district--has worked to improve the appeal and nutritional quality of school food. This article highlights some of the structural and policy changes that have improved the school food environment over the past decade, with the aim to share lessons learned and provide recommendations and resources for other districts interested in making similar modifications.

Changes in energy content of lunchtime purchases from fast food restaurants after introduction of calorie labelling: cross sectional customer surveys.

Objective: To assess the impact of fast food restaurants adding calorie labelling to menu items on the energy content of individual purchases.

Design: Cross sectional surveys in spring 2007 and spring 2009 (one year before and nine months after full implementation of regulation requiring chain restaurants' menus to contain details of the energy content of all menu items). Setting 168 randomly selected locations of the top 11 fast food chains in New York City during lunchtime hours.

Self-reported weight loss practices among African American and Hispanic adults in the United States.

Objective: To describe weight loss methods used and interactions with health care professionals on the issue of weight among African Americans and Hispanics.

Methods: Five hundred thirty-seven African American and 526 Hispanic adults who self-described as being overweight participated in a telephone interview.

Results: Exercise and healthy eating were the 2 most commonly used weight loss methods among both groups; prescription medications were the least-utilized weight loss aid.

Calories from beverages purchased at 2 major coffee chains in New York City, 2007.

Introduction: Calorie intake from beverages has increased in the past decades, which most likely contributes to higher obesity rates. Although coffee chains have grown in popularity in recent years, few data examine the calorie contribution of these drinks. We examined afternoon beverage purchases in New York City at 2 major coffee chains and estimated the mean calorie content of these beverages.

What people buy from fast-food restaurants: caloric content and menu item selection, New York City 2007.

Fast-food restaurants provide a growing share of daily food intake, but little information is available in the public health literature about customer purchases. In order to establish baseline data on mean calorie intake, this study was completed in the Spring of 2007, before calorie labeling regulations went into effect in New York City. Receipts were collected from lunchtime customers, at randomly selected New York City fast-food chains.