Adding a Social Marketing Campaign to a School-Based Nutrition Education Program Improves Children's Dietary Intake: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Background: Evidence supports the use of social marketing campaigns to improve nutrition knowledge and reinforce the effects of nutrition education programs. However, the additional effects of parent-focused social marketing with nutrition education have received little attention.

Objective: Our aim was to assess the impact of the Iowa Nutrition Network's school-based nutrition education program (Building and Strengthening Iowa Community Support for Nutrition and Physical Activity [BASICS]) and the benefits of adding a multichannel social marketing intervention (BASICS Plus) to increase parent-directed communication.

Eat Smart, Live Strong intervention increases fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income older adults.

This study evaluated the impact of a four-session interactive nutrition education program-Eat Smart, Live Strong (ESLS)-on the consumption of fruit and vegetables by low-income older adults. A pre-post quasi-experimental design study was conducted with a longitudinal sample of 614 low-income Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants and those eligible for SNAP, aged 60 to 80 years, in 17 intervention and 16 comparison senior centers in Michigan. The study compared participants' self-reports of their consumption of fruit and vegetables using a modified version of the University of California Cooperative Extension Food Behavior Checklist.

Evaluating the Impact of Six Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education Interventions on Children's At-Home Diets.

Background: Nutrition education in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) is designed to promote healthy eating behaviors in a low-income target population.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of six SNAP-Ed interventions delivered in child care centers or elementary school settings in increasing participating children's at-home fruit and vegetable (F/V) consumption by 0.3 cups per day and use of fat-free or low-fat milk instead of whole or reduced-fat milk during the prior week.

Nutrition-education program improves preschoolers' at-home diet: a group randomized trial.

Objective: This study evaluated whether a nutrition-education program in child-care centers improved children's at-home daily consumption of fruits and vegetables, at-home use of low-fat/fat-free milk, and other at-home dietary behaviors.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-four child-care centers serving low-income families were matched by region, type, and size, and then randomly assigned to either an intervention or control condition. In the 12 intervention centers, registered dietitian nutritionists provided nutrition education to children and parents separately during a 6- to 10-week period.

Lessons learned from community-based approaches to sodium reduction.

Purpose: This article describes lessons from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiative encompassing sodium reduction interventions in six communities.

Design: A multiple case study design was used.

Setting: This evaluation examined data from programs implemented in six communities located in New York (Broome County, Schenectady County, and New York City); California (Los Angeles County and Shasta County); and Kansas (Shawnee County).

A novel approach to selecting and weighting nutrients for nutrient profiling of foods and diets.

Background: Nutrient profiling of foods is the science of ranking or classifying foods based on their nutrient composition. Most profiling systems use similar weighting factors across nutrients due to lack of scientific evidence to assign levels of importance to nutrients.

Objective: Our aim was to use a statistical approach to determine the nutrients that best explain variation in Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores and to obtain β-coefficients for the nutrients for use as weighting factors for a nutrient-profiling algorithm.

Effect of a Nutrient Rich Foods consumer education program: results from the nutrition advice study.

Background: The Nutrient Rich Foods (NRF) approach to eating uses the NRF Index, a nutrient profiling metric to help consumers choose foods that contain more vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients per kilocalorie. Research is needed to test the efficacy of dietary guidance using nutrient profiling systems to rank foods.

Objective: To examine whether nutrition education and supporting materials would increase understanding of the NRF approach and improve food shopping, meal planning, consumption of nutrient-rich foods, and diet quality.

Self-reported exposure to policy and environmental influences on smoking cessation and relapse: a 2-year longitudinal population-based study.

Although most smokers want to quit, the long-term success rate of quit attempts remains low; research is needed to understand the policy and environmental influences that can increase the success of cessation efforts. This paper uses regression methods to investigate self-reported exposure to policy and environmental influences on quit attempts, maintenance of a quit attempt for at least 6 months, and relapse in a longitudinal population-based sample, the New York Adult Cohort Survey, followed for 12 months (N = 3,261) and 24 months (N = 1,142). When policy or environmental influence variables were assessed independently of other policy or environmental influence variables, many were significant for at least some of the cessation outcomes.

The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a community weight management intervention: a randomized controlled trial of the health weight management demonstration.

Purpose: The study investigated the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral weight management program, complemented by an interactive Web site and brief telephone/e-mail coaching.

Methods: In 2006-2007, 1755 overweight, non-active-duty TRICARE beneficiaries were randomized to one of three conditions with increasing intervention intensity: written materials and basic Web access (RCT1), plus an interactive Web site (RCT2), plus brief telephone/e-mail coaching support (RCT3). The study assessed changes in weight, blood pressure, and physical activity from baseline to 6, 12, and 15-18 months.

The value of partnerships in state obesity prevention and control programs.

State health departments funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Program collaborate with multiple partners to develop and implement comprehensive obesity prevention and control programs. A mixed-methods evaluation of 28 state programs over a 5-year period assessed states' progress on program requirements, including developing statewide partnerships and coordinating with partners to support obesity prevention and control efforts. States with greater partnership involvement leveraged more funding support for their programs, passed more obesity-related policies, and were more likely to implement obesity interventions in multiple settings.

Menthol cigarettes contribute to the appeal and addiction potential of smoking for youth.

Introduction: Menthol cigarettes are a common choice of cigarettes among young smokers that contribute to the addictive potential of cigarette smoking.

Methods: We reviewed prior research and analyzed the 2006 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), using logistic regression to assess the relationship between menthol cigarette use and needing a cigarette within 1 hr after smoking.

Results: In the 2006 NYTS, 51.

The association between funding for statewide programs and enactment of obesity legislation.

Objective: As part of a national effort to prevent and control obesity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Nutrition and Physical Activity Program to Prevent Obesity and Other Chronic Diseases (NPAO) provides funding to states to improve access to healthful food and increase opportunities for physical activity. The CDC also provides funding to states to build Coordinated School Health (CSH) programs across agencies and within schools to help reduce chronic disease risk factors. This paper investigates the possible role of these programs in state policy change.

Building company health promotion capacity: a unique collaboration between Cargill and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Background: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) helps protect the health and safety of all people. The workplace can be used to reach millions of workers and their families with programs, policies, and benefits that promote health. We describe a CDC-led project to build Cargill's workplace health promotion capacity and identify the importance of a company liaison in the public-private relationship.

Systematic review of public health branding.

Brands build relationships between consumers and products, services, or lifestyles by providing beneficial exchanges and adding value to their objects. Brands can be measured through associations that consumers hold for products and services. Public health brands are the associations that individuals hold for health behaviors, or lifestyles that embody multiple health behaviors.

Promising practices in promotion of healthy weight at small and medium-sized US worksites.

Introduction: We developed a new evaluation method to identify promising practices for promoting healthy weight among employees at small and medium-sized worksites.

Methods: We used a structured rating and selection process to select 9 worksites with approximately 100 to 3,000 employees from a pool of worksites with health promotion programs reputed to be exemplary. A site visit over 2 sequential half-days at each site included interviews with senior management, program staff, vendors, and wellness committees; observation guided by a written environmental assessment; and structured review of program data on health outcomes of wellness program participants.

A new evaluation tool to obtain practice-based evidence of worksite health promotion programs.

Introduction: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the Swift Worksite Assessment and Translation (SWAT) evaluation method to identify promising practices in worksite health promotion programs. The new method complements research studies and evaluation studies of evidence-based practices that promote healthy weight in working adults.

Methods: We used nationally recognized program evaluation standards of utility, feasibility, accuracy, and propriety as the foundation for our 5-step method: 1) site identification and selection, 2) site visit, 3) post-visit evaluation of promising practices, 4) evaluation capacity building, and 5) translation and dissemination.

Discussions about preventive services: a qualitative study.

Background: Elderly minority patients are less likely to receive influenza vaccination and colorectal cancer screening than are other patients. Communication between primary care providers (PCPs) and patients may affect service receipt.

Methods: Encounters between 7 PCPs and 18 elderly patients were observed and audiotaped at 2 community health centers.

Reducing children's television-viewing time: a qualitative study of parents and their children.

Objectives: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children over age 2 years spend < or = 2 hours per day with screen media, because excessive viewing has been linked to a plethora of physical, academic, and behavioral problems. The primary goal of this study was to qualitatively explore how a recommendation to limit television viewing might be received and responded to by a diverse sample of parents and their school-age children.

Methods: The study collected background data about media use, gathered a household media inventory, and conducted in-depth individual and small group interviews with 180 parents and children ages 6 to 13 years old.

Impact of the CDC's Section 317 Immunization Grants Program funding on childhood vaccination coverage.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Section 317 Grants Program is the main source of funding for state and jurisdictional immunization programs, yet no study has evaluated its direct impact on vaccination coverage rates. Therefore, we used a fixed-effects model and data collected from 56 US jurisdictions to estimate the impact of Section 317 financial assistance immunization grants on childhood vaccination coverage rates from 1997 to 2003. Our results showed that increases in Section 317 funding were significantly and meaningfully associated with higher rates of vaccination coverage; a 10 dollars increase in per capita funding corresponded with a 1.

Are menthol cigarettes a starter product for youth?

This study assessed the relationship between menthol use and nicotine dependence. Data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey indicated that menthol cigarette use was significantly more common among newer, younger smokers. Additionally, youth who smoked menthol cigarettes had significantly higher scores on a scale of nicotine dependence compared with nonmenthol smokers, controlling for demographic background and the length, frequency, and level of smoking.

The influence of social environment and social image on adolescent smoking.

This purpose of this article is to explore differences by gender and school grade in patterns of association among social influences and tobacco use. Data from the 1999 (N = 15,038) and 2000 (N = 35,828) National Youth Tobacco Survey (American Legacy Foundation, 1999, 2000), a nationally representative, repeated cross-sectional survey, were used in the analysis. The authors compared effects on adolescent smoking.