Survey of Afterschool Programs Suggests Most Offer Fruit and Vegetables Daily.

Introduction: Most children underconsume fruit and vegetables. This study estimated the frequency and quality of fruit and vegetables offered during snack in US afterschool programs and examined program-level factors associated with offering them, including awareness and use of the National AfterSchool Association Healthy Eating and Physical Activity standards.

Methods: We conducted descriptive analyses and regression modeling by using data collected from 684 National AfterSchool Association members and their colleagues via a 2015 online survey.

School health implementation tools: a mixed methods evaluation of factors influencing their use.

Background: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) develops tools to support implementation of evidence-based interventions for school health.

Developing a Tool to Assess the Capacity of Out-of-School Time Program Providers to Implement Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change.

Background: Little is known about public health practitioners' capacity to change policies, systems, or environments (PSEs), in part due to the absence of measures. To address this need, we partnered with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation (Alliance) to develop and test a theory-derived measure of the capacity of out-of-school time program providers to improve students' level of nutrition and physical activity through changes in PSEs.

Community Context: The measure was developed and tested through an engaged partnership with staff working on the Alliance's Healthy Out-of-School Time (HOST) Initiative.

Effects of an afterschool community center physical activity program on fitness and body composition in obese youth.

Physical activity (PA) promotes health in obese youth and is an important adjunct to medical weight management. Access to structured fitness programmes for obese, low-income youth is limited and potential benefits of such programmes are poorly understood. We describe an urban afterschool fitness programme for obese youth and participants' changes in fitness and body composition.