Assessment of Interest in a Virtual Avatar-Based Nutrition Education Program Among Youth-Serving Community Partners.

Objective: Examine the appeal of a virtual avatar-led nutrition education program among youth-serving community partners in North Carolina.

Methods: We surveyed community partners using the Diffusion of Innovation Theory constructs of relative advantage, compatibility, and complexity. Logistic regression evaluated the appeal and likelihood of the program's future use.

Multi-Method Formative Evaluation of a Digital Online Grocery Shopping Assistant Among Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Participants.

Objective: Assess the acceptability of a digital grocery shopping assistant among rural women with low income.

Design: Simulated shopping experience, semistructured interviews, and a choice experiment.

Setting: Rural central North Carolina Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children clinic.

Comparison of Tobacco Product Prices at Fort Liberty Army Installation and Surrounding Community Areas, 2021.

Introduction: High rates of tobacco use persist in the U.S. military, with 18.

Associations between food and beverage purchases and skin carotenoids among diverse small food retail store customers.

Objective: To determine if customer purchases at small food stores are associated with healthfulness of the diet as approximated by skin carotenoids.

Design: This is a cross-sectional survey of customers in small food stores regarding demographics and food purchases. Food and beverage purchases were classified as 'healthy' or 'non-healthy' and 'carotenoid' .

Geospatial Reach of the Maryland COVID-19 School Meals Response: Spring 2020.

Objective: Examine characteristics of pandemic meal site (n = 602) location and meals served per site in Maryland, Spring 2020, following federal/state waivers for local meal site placement decision-making.

Methods: Using geographic information systems, we connected meal sites to census tract-level data and generated service areas from sites and distances from population-weighted census tract centroids to the closest pandemic meal site. Regression analysis determined associations of census tract pandemic meal site count and meals served per site with socioeconomic and demographic variables.

Bidirectional Relations Between Daily Stress and Sleep Among Black Emerging Adults.

Background: Black adults experience higher levels of stress and more dysfunctional sleep patterns compared to their White peers, both of which may contribute to racial disparities in chronic health conditions. Dysfunctional sleep patterns are also more likely in emerging adults compared to other age groups. Daily stress-sleep relations in Black emerging adults are understudied.

Evidence of Geospatial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Access to Online Grocery Shopping for Fresh and Frozen Produce in North Carolina.

Background: Online grocery shopping is a rapidly growing food procurement approach in the United States with the potential to improve food access. Limited research has focused on understanding differential access to online grocery shopping that provides healthier items such as fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables.

Objective: The study aim was to understand geospatial, socioeconomic, and racial disparities in the availability of healthy online grocery shopping and online Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) acceptance in North Carolina.

EatWellNow: Formative Development of a Place-Based Behavioral "Nudge" Technology Intervention to Promote Healthier Food Purchases among Army Soldiers.

Approximately 17% of military service members are obese. Research involving army soldiers suggests a lack of awareness of healthy foods on post. Innovative approaches are needed to change interactions with the military food environment.

Perceived barriers and facilitators to participating in the North Carolina Healthy Food Small Retailer Program: a mixed-methods examination considering investment effectiveness.

Objective: The North Carolina Legislature appropriated funds in 2016-2019 for the Healthy Food Small Retailer Program (HFSRP), providing small retailers located in food deserts with equipment to stock nutrient-dense foods and beverages. The study aimed to: (1) examine factors facilitating and constraining implementation of, and participation in, the HFSRP from the perspective of storeowners and (2) measure and evaluate the impact and effectiveness of investment in the HFSRP.

Design: The current analysis uses both qualitative and quantitative assessments of storeowner perceptions and store outcomes, as well as two innovative measures of policy investment effectiveness.

Qualitative perspectives of the North Carolina healthy food small retailer program among customers in participating stores located in food deserts.

Background: The North Carolina Healthy Food Small Retailer Program (NC HFSRP) was established through a policy passed by the state legislature to provide funding for small food retailers located in food deserts with the goal of increasing access to and sales of healthy foods and beverages among local residents. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine perceptions of the NC HFSRP among store customers.

Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 29 customers from five NC HFSRP stores in food deserts across eastern NC.

USDA Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Vendor Criteria: An Examination of US Administrative Agency Variations.

The food retail environment has been directly linked to disparities in dietary behaviors and may in part explain racial and ethnic disparities in pregnancy-related deaths. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, is associated with improved healthy food and beverage access due to its requirement for minimum stock of healthy foods and beverages in WIC-eligible stores. The selection and authorization criteria used to authorize WIC vendors varies widely from state to state with little known about the specific variations.

A four-year observational study to examine the dietary impact of the North Carolina Healthy Food Small Retailer Program, 2017-2020.

Background: The North Carolina (NC) Healthy Food Small Retailer Program (HFSRP) was passed into law with a $250,000 appropriation (2016-2018) providing up to $25,000 in funding to small food stores for equipment to stock healthier foods and beverages. This paper describes an observational natural experiment documenting the impact of the HFSRP on store food environments, customers' purchases and diets.

Methods: Using store observations and intercept surveys from cross-sectional, convenience customer samples (1261 customers in 22 stores, 2017-2020; 499 customers in 7 HFSRP stores, and 762 customers in 15 Comparison stores), we examined differences between HFSRP and comparison stores regarding: (1) change in store-level availability, quality, and price of healthy foods/beverages; (2) change in healthfulness of observed food and beverage purchases ("bag checks"); and, (3) change in self-reported and objectively-measured (Veggie Meter®-assessed skin carotenoids) customer dietary behaviors.

Virtual Avatar Coaching With Community Context for Adult-Child Dyads with Low Income.

Objective: Examine the acceptability of an evidence-based, contextually tailored, virtual avatar coaching approach for nutrition education among adult-child dyads with low income.

Design: Structured observations and semistructured interviews.

Setting: Low-income communities in 2 midsized urban areas.

Nondiet Weight-Neutral Curricula Limited in Current Accredited US Dietetic Programs.

Objective: Determine awareness and prevalence of, and interest in nondiet weight-neutral (NDWN) focused curriculum and factors associated with the presence in accredited dietetic programs throughout the US.

Methods: Online cross-sectional survey sent to directors of US Coordinated Programs (n = 60) and Didactic Programs in Dietetics (n = 214).

Results: 116 programs (42%) responded, 95% reported knowledge of NDWN approaches to weight management like Health at Every Size.

Examining commonly used perceived and objective measures of fruit and vegetable access in low-income populations and their association with consumption.

Perception-based and objective food access measures are often examined as factors influencing individuals' shopping decisions and dietary habits, but the relative influence of these two factors on behaviors needs further examination. This study sought to (a) determine if perception-based and objective measures of fruit and vegetable (F&V) access were related and (b) examine perception-based and objective access measures as predictors of F&V consumption. Participants were recruited as part of a larger intervention study from 12 sites across three urban North Carolina counties.

Associations between shopping patterns, dietary behaviours and geographic information system-assessed store accessibility among small food store customers.

Objective: To examine associations between geographic information systems (GIS)-assessed accessibility to small food stores, shopping patterns and dietary behaviours among small food store customers.

Design: Residential addresses and customer shopping patterns (frequency of shopping, and previous purchase of fruits and vegetables) were gathered through customer intercept surveys. Addresses were geocoded, and GIS-assessed distance and driving time from the participants' residence to the store were calculated.

Feeding Students During COVID-19-Related School Closures: A Nationwide Assessment of Initial Responses.

Objective: To conduct a nationwide assessment of child nutrition administrative agencies' responses to meal service provision during coronavirus disease 2019-related school closures.

Design: Systematic coding of government websites (February-May 2020) regarding school meal provision in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, 5 US territories, and the US Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Education.

Participants: All US jurisdictions (N = 57).

Influence of Nutrient Intake on 24 Hour Urinary Hydration Biomarkers Using a Clustering-Based Approach.

Previous work focusing on understanding nutrient intake and its association with total body water homeostasis neglects to consider the collinearity of types of nutrients consumed and subsequent associations with hydration biomarkers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze consumption patterns of 23 a priori selected nutrients involved in osmotic homeostasis, as well as their association with 24 h urinary hydration markers among fifty African-American first-year college students through a repeated measures observation in a daily living setting. Through application of hierarchical clustering, we were able to identity four clusters of nutrients based on 24 h dietary recalls: (1) alcohol + pinitol, (2) water + calcium + magnesium + erythritol + inositol + sorbitol + xylitol, (3) total calories + total fat + total protein + potassium + sodium + zinc + phosphorous + arginine, and (4) total carbohydrates + total fiber + soluble fiber + insoluble fiber + mannitol + betaine.

Extended Reality Technologies in Nutrition Education and Behavior: Comprehensive Scoping Review and Future Directions.

The use of Extended Reality (XR) (i.e. Virtual and Augmented Reality) for nutrition education and behavior change has not been comprehensively reviewed.

Addressing Food Insecurity through a Health Equity Lens: a Case Study of Large Urban School Districts during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Reduced access to school meals during public health emergencies can accelerate food insecurity and nutritional status, particularly for low-income children in urban areas. To prevent the exacerbation of health disparities, there is a need to understand the implementation of meal distribution among large urban school districts during emergencies and to what degree these strategies provide equitable meal access. Our case study of four large urban school districts during the COVID-19 pandemic aims to address these knowledge gaps.

Momentary Physical Activity Co-Occurs with Healthy and Unhealthy Dietary Intake in African American College Freshmen.

Research investigating interrelations between physical activity and dietary intake has primarily used retrospective, summary-based measures of behavior subject to increased recall bias. This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods with accelerometry to determine within-day, momentary associations between physical activity and dietary intake behaviors in African American college freshmen. Methods: Participants ( = 50) completed a dietary EMA protocol that assessed food/fluids consumed over the past 2 h at five random times per day and wore an activPAL accelerometer for 7 days to measure physical activity.

Racial and Sex Differences in 24 Hour Urinary Hydration Markers among Male and Female Emerging Adults: A Pilot Study.

The purpose of this study was to examine 24 h urinary hydration markers in non-Hispanic White (WH) and non-Hispanic Black (BL) males and females. Thirteen males (BL, = 6; WH, = 7) and nineteen females (BL, = 16, WH, = 3) (mean ± SD; age, 20 ± 4 y; height, 169.2 ± 12.