Contextual assessment of the breadth and level of investments made by prevention initiatives to improve nutrition and prevent obesity in Los Angeles County, 2010-2015.

To better characterize and understand local investments made by prevention initiatives to address poor nutrition and obesity during 2010-2015, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health partnered with an evaluation firm in 2014 to conduct a context scan of nutrition education programs (NEs) and policy, systems, and environmental change interventions (PSEs) in Los Angeles County (LAC). Using fiscal year 2012-2013 (FY12-13) as a midpoint for a before/after comparison based in part on the timeline of the last USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) funding cycle, the scan included both SNAP-Ed and non-SNAP-Ed initiatives. Systematic searches of peer-reviewed and grey literature, relevant organizations' websites and materials, and results from 51 key stakeholder interviews, were completed to help develop a context scan database for LAC.

Physical education and student activity: evaluating implementation of a new policy in Los Angeles public schools.

Background: California law has standards for physical education (PE) instruction in K-12 public schools; audits found that the Los Angeles Unified School District did not enforce the standards. In 2009, the district adopted a PE policy to comply with these standards.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of the PE policy in district schools.

Does competitive food and beverage legislation hurt meal participation or revenues in high schools?

Background: There is limited evidence to evaluate the influence of competitive food and beverage legislation on school meal program participation and revenues.

Methods: A representative sample of 56 California high schools was recruited to collect school-level data before (2006–2007) and the year after (2007–2008) policies regarding limiting competitive foods and beverages were required to be implemented. Data were obtained from school records, observations, and questionnaires.

Engaging youth in improving their food and physical activity environments.

Purpose: To understand factors that build youth leadership through the Healthy Eating, Active Communities Program.

Methods: In Fall 2007, six focus groups were conducted with 36 youth.

Results: Leadership capacity was facilitated through teamwork, community assessments, and policy work.

Implementation of California state school competitive food and beverage standards.

Background: Competitive foods and beverages are available on most US school campuses. States and school districts are adopting nutrition standards to regulate these products, but few studies have reported on the extent to which schools are able to adhere to competitive regulations. The purpose of this study was to describe the extent to which schools in disadvantaged communities were able to implement California competitive food and beverage standards.

Approaches to measuring the extent and impact of environmental change in three California community-level obesity prevention initiatives.

Despite growing support among public health researchers and practitioners for environmental approaches to obesity prevention, there is a lack of empirical evidence from intervention studies showing a favorable impact of either increased healthy food availability on healthy eating or changes in the built environment on physical activity. It is therefore critical that we carefully evaluate initiatives targeting the community environment to expand the evidence base for environmental interventions. We describe the approaches used to measure the extent and impact of environmental change in 3 community-level obesity-prevention initiatives in California.

The California Endowment's Healthy Eating, Active Communities program: a midpoint review.

Objectives: We conducted a midpoint review of The California Endowment's Healthy Eating, Active Communities (HEAC) program, which works in 6 low-income California communities to prevent childhood obesity by changing children's environments. The HEAC program conducts interventions in 5 key childhood environments: schools, after-school programs, neighborhoods, health care, and marketing and advertising.

Methods: We measured changes in foods and beverages sold at schools and in neighborhoods in HEAC sites; changes in school and after-school physical activity programming and equipment; individual-level changes in children's attitudes and behaviors related to food and physical activity; and HEAC-related awareness and engagement on the part of community members, stakeholders, and policymakers.

Lessons learned from evaluations of California's statewide school nutrition standards.

Objectives: We assessed the impact of legislation that established nutrition standards for foods and beverages that compete with reimbursable school meals in California.

Methods: We used documentation of available foods and beverages, sales accounts, and surveys of and interviews with students and food service workers to conduct 3 studies measuring pre- and postlegislation food and beverage availability, sales, and student consumption at 99 schools.

Results: Availability of nutrition standard-compliant foods and beverages increased.

Food and beverage environment analysis and monitoring system: a reliability study in the school food and beverage environment.

States and school districts around the country are developing policies that set nutrition standards for competitive foods and beverages sold outside of the US Department of Agriculture's reimbursable school lunch program. However, few tools exist for monitoring the implementation of these new policies. The objective of this research was to develop a computerized assessment tool, the Food and Beverage Environment Analysis and Monitoring System (FoodBEAMS), to collect data on the competitive school food environment and to test the inter-rater reliability of the tool among research and nonresearch professionals.

To what extent have high schools in California been able to implement state-mandated nutrition standards?

Purpose: To determine extent and factors associated with implementation of California's school nutrition standards 1 year after standards became active.

Methods: Information on competitive foods and beverages available in schools was collected from a representative sample of 56 public high schools in California. Adherence to nutrition standards was calculated for each item and summarized for each school by venue.

The food and beverage vending environment in health care facilities participating in the healthy eating, active communities program.

Background: Little has been done to ensure that the foods sold within health care facilities promote healthy lifestyles. Policies to improve school nutrition environments can serve as models for health care organizations.

Objective: This study was designed to assess the healthfulness of foods sold in health care facility vending machines as well as how health care organizations are using policies to create healthy food environments.

Walking the talk: Fit WIC wellness programs improve self-efficacy in pediatric obesity prevention counseling.

Six sites of the California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participated in a staff wellness pilot intervention designed to improve staff self-efficacy in counseling WIC clients about childhood overweight. A pre-post test design with intervention and control groups was used; outcome measures included staff perceptions of the intervention's effects on the workplace environment, their personal habits and health beliefs, and their counseling self-efficacy. Intervention site staff were more likely to report that the workplace environment supported their efforts to make healthy food choices (P <.