Work-Related Factors Associated With Health and Well-Being of Early Care and Education Workers.

Objective: We assessed and examined relationships between the health and working conditions of early care and education workers.

Methods: We surveyed early care and education workers ( n = 2242) about their socioeconomic characteristics; work organization; psychosocial, physical, and ergonomic exposures; coping behaviors; and health.

Results: Nearly half of respondents reported chronic health conditions.

Insights from Washington State's COVID-19 Response: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of WIC Remote Services and Expanded Food Options Using the RE-AIM Framework.

Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington State's Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WA WIC) adopted federal waivers to transition to remote service delivery for certification and education appointments. WA WIC also expanded the approved food list without using federal waivers, adding more than 600 new items to offset challenges participants experienced accessing foods in stores.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the reach and effectiveness of the programmatic changes instituted by WA WIC during the COVID-19 pandemic; the processes, facilitators, and challenges involved in their implementation; and considerations for their continuation in the future.

Early Care and Education Workers' Experience and Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Early care and education (ECE) workers experience many job-related stressors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ECE programs either closed or remained open while workers faced additional demands. We deployed a survey of the center-based ECE workforce in Washington State (United States) one year into the COVID-19 pandemic to assess impacts and workers' perceived stress levels.

Healthy Food Environments in Food Pantries: Lessons Learned from a Sodium Reduction Intervention.

In the United States, food pantries increasingly serve as regular food sources for low income households experiencing high rates of chronic disease, including hypertension. Sodium consumption is a modifiable risk factor for hypertension, so pantry customers would benefit from access to low-sodium foods. Pantry customers often experience difficulty acquiring healthy foods, however; little is known about pantry foods' sodium content specifically.

Making seafood accessible to low-income and nutritionally vulnerable populations on the U.S. West Coast.

Along the U.S. West Coast, sustainable management has rebuilt fish stocks, providing an opportunity to supply nutrient-rich food to adjacent coastal communities where food insecurity and diet-based diseases are common.

Low-income workers' perceptions of wages, food acquisition, and well-being.

Although studies have demonstrated an association between increased economic resources and improvements in food security and health, there is a paucity of qualitative research regarding the relationships between household resources, food security, and health. Policy changes related to increasing low wages are potential opportunities to understand changes to material resources. The aims of this analysis were to describe how low-wage workers perceive household resources in relation to food acquisition and to explore how workers in low-wage jobs connect food and diet to perceptions of health and well-being.

An Assessment of Perceived Barriers to Farmers' Market Access.

Objective: To explore whether Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) stakeholders (individuals involved in work to increase access to farmers' markets [FMs] for low-income populations) perceive the same barriers to shopping at FMs as those reported by SNAP participants in Washington State.

Design: Descriptive study; data included a stratified clustered random sample of SNAP participants and stakeholder interviews.

Setting: Washington State.

Effects of a Behavioral Economics Intervention on Food Choice and Food Consumption in Middle-School and High-School Cafeterias.

Introduction: Changing food choice architecture in school cafeterias through behavioral economics may increase student selection and consumption of healthy foods. However, most research assesses the effects of short-term interventions. We evaluated a year-long choice architecture intervention implemented by school food service staff.

An Evaluation of Washington State SNAP-Ed Farmers' Market Initiatives and SNAP Participant Behaviors.

Objective: To describe Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed)-supported farmers' market (FM) access activities in Washington State communities and identify associations between participation in these activities and SNAP participants' FM shopping and fruit and vegetable consumption.

Design: Descriptive study; data included stakeholder interviews and surveys with FM managers and a stratified clustered random sample of SNAP participants.

Setting: Washington State.

Validity and Interrater Reliability of the Visual Quarter-Waste Method for Assessing Food Waste in Middle School and High School Cafeteria Settings.

Background: Measuring food waste (ie, plate waste) in school cafeterias is an important tool to evaluate the effectiveness of school nutrition policies and interventions aimed at increasing consumption of healthier meals. Visual assessment methods are frequently applied in plate waste studies because they are more convenient than weighing. The visual quarter-waste method has become a common tool in studies of school meal waste and consumption, but previous studies of its validity and reliability have used correlation coefficients, which measure association but not necessarily agreement.

Exploring the Use of Seattle's Farmers' Market Incentive Program ("Fresh Bucks") by Household Food Security Levels.

The objective of this study was to explore Seattle's farmers' market incentive program, known as Fresh Bucks, and associated shopping behaviors based on participants' food security status. Researchers surveyed a convenience sample of Fresh Bucks users and classified subjects as high/marginal, low, or very low food security. Investigators analyzed for differences in demographics and farmers' market shopping behaviors by food security levels.

Examining the Washington State Breastfeeding-Friendly Policy Development Process Using the Advocacy Coalition Framework.

Objectives Breastfeeding promotion is increasingly recognized as a key public health strategy. Policies can promote breastfeeding by creating supportive environments and addressing challenges. In 2014, the Washington State legislature considered bills to create a voluntary recognition system for breastfeeding-friendly hospitals, clinics, worksites and childcare settings.

Developing local board of health guidelines to promote healthy food access - King County, Washington, 2010-2012.

Policies that change environments are important tools for preventing chronic diseases, including obesity. Boards of health often have authority to adopt such policies, but few do so. This study assesses 1) how one local board of health developed a policy approach for healthy food access through vending machine guidelines (rather than regulations) and 2) the impact of the approach.

Nutrition-related policy and environmental strategies to prevent obesity in rural communities: a systematic review of the literature, 2002-2013.

Introduction: Residents of rural communities in the United States are at higher risk for obesity than their urban and suburban counterparts. Policy and environmental-change strategies supporting healthier dietary intake can prevent obesity and promote health equity. Evidence in support of these strategies is based largely on urban and suburban studies; little is known about use of these strategies in rural communities.

Getting research to the policy table: a qualitative study with public health researchers on engaging with policy makers.

Introduction: Little attention has been given to how researchers can best provide evidence to policy makers so that it informs policy making. The objectives of this study were to increase understanding about the current state of public health nutrition and obesity researcher practices, beliefs, barriers, and facilitators to communicating and engaging with policy makers, and to identify best practices and suggest improvements.

Methods: Eighteen semistructured interviews were conducted from 2011 to 2013 with public health nutrition and obesity researchers who were highly involved in communicating research to policy makers.

Developing an agenda for research about policies to improve access to healthy foods in rural communities: a concept mapping study.

Background: Policies that improve access to healthy, affordable foods may improve population health and reduce health disparities. In the United States most food access policy research focuses on urban communities even though residents of rural communities face disproportionately higher risk for nutrition-related chronic diseases compared to residents of urban communities. The purpose of this study was to (1) identify the factors associated with access to healthy, affordable food in rural communities in the United States; and (2) prioritize a meaningful and feasible rural food policy research agenda.

Perceived impact and feasibility of strategies to improve access to healthy foods in Washington State, USA.

Objective: The present study measured the perceived impact and political and implementation feasibility of state-level policy strategies related to increasing access to healthy foods and limiting unhealthy foods.

Design: Potential state-level policy strategies to improve access to healthy foods were identified through a review of evidence-based literature and policy recommendations. Respondents rated the perceived impact and political and implementation feasibility of each policy on a five-point scale using online surveys.