Publications by authors named "L Harnack"
Objective: We documented the nutritional quality of a weekend food backpack program with 5 bag types tailored for ethnic food preferences and reported participants' satisfaction and usage of the program.
Methods: The Healthy Eating Index-2020 scores were calculated to assess the quality of the food items by bag type. We also recruited 49 caregivers of elementary school-aged children in Minnesota using multilingual flyers from December, 2022 to May, 2023.
Article Synopsis
- Early life gut microbiomes significantly impact brain and immune system development, with probiotics suggested as a way to enhance health through microbiome modification.
- This study investigates the effects of maternal probiotic exposure during pregnancy and breastfeeding on inflammation in breastmilk, variations in maternal and infant microbiomes, and infant neurodevelopment.
- Results indicate that maternal probiotics are linked to lower breastmilk inflammation markers and changes in infant gut microbiome, as well as improved recognition memory responses in infants at 6 months old.
We conducted interviews with parents earning low wages to understand their experiences related to financial responsibilities and use of government and informal resources in Raleigh, North Carolina. Inadequate economic opportunities and assistance programs, and high costs of living, compounded into cycles of playing catch up on expenses. Assistance programs aimed at alleviating hardships related to poverty were described as piecemeal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Consumption of plant-based milk alternatives is increasing. Current dietary guidance primarily relies on dairy milk as a source of key nutrients of public health concern including calcium and vitamin D.
Objective: To compare the nutritional content of plant-based milk alternatives between categories (eg, soy, almond, and oat) and with dairy milk.
Objective: Families enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) report persistent barriers to purchasing nutritious foods. This mixed-methods study explored SNAP users' food and beverage purchasing patterns and perspectives regarding potential modifications to SNAP to inform the design of SNAP+, a healthy incentive program to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) and decrease sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) purchases.
Methods: Participants were recruited through a non-profit organizational network to participate in an online survey.