Parenting styles are associated with overall child dietary quality within low-income and food-insecure households.

Objective: To examine the association between parenting styles and overall child dietary quality within households that are low-income and food-insecure.

Design: Child dietary intake was measured via a 24 h dietary recall. Dietary quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005).

Food insecurity, childhood hunger and caregiver life experiences among households with children in South Carolina, USA.

Objective: We explored how positive and negative life experiences of caregivers are associated with household food insecurity.

Design: The Midlands Family Study (MFS) was a cross-sectional study with three levels of household food security: food secure, food insecure without child hunger and food insecure with child hunger. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used for analyses of negative and positive life experiences (number, impact, type) associated with food insecurity.

Stretching Food and Being Creative: Caregiver Responses to Child Food Insecurity.

Objective: To examine the strategies and behaviors caregivers use to manage the household food supply when their children experience food insecurity as measured by the US Department of Agriculture's Household Food Security Survey Module.

Design: Cross-sectional survey with open-ended questions collected in person.

Setting: Urban and nonurban areas, South Carolina, US.

Severity of household food insecurity and lifetime racial discrimination among African-American households in South Carolina.

Objectives: In 2014, 30% of African-American households with children had low or very low food security, a rate double that of white households with children. A household has low food security if its members experience food shortages and reductions in food quality attributable to a lack of household resources or access and very low food security if its members also experience reductions in food intake and disrupted eating patterns. Households that are either low or very low food secure are known collectively as food insecure.

An Exploration of How Mexican American WIC Mothers Obtain Information About Behaviors Associated With Childhood Obesity Risk.

Objective: To explore how a sample of Mexican American mothers with preschool-aged children recruited from a Midwestern Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinic obtained information about 4 behaviors associated with childhood obesity risk: eating, physical activity, screen time, and sleep.

Design: One-on-one structured interviews in which participants were asked how they communicated with family, learned to take care of their first infant, and obtained information about the 4 targeted behaviors for their preschool-aged child.

Setting: An urban WIC clinic in the Midwest.

Perceived and geographic food access and food security status among households with children.

Objective: To examine the association of both perceived and geographic neighbourhood food access with food security status among households with children.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study in which participants' perceptions of neighbourhood food access were assessed by a standard survey instrument, and geographic food access was evaluated by distance to the nearest supermarket. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine the associations.

Household food insecurity and medication "scrimping" among US adults with diabetes.

Objective: Our research examined the prevalence of food insecurity among adults with self-reported diabetes and whether food insecurity was associated with cutting back ("scrimping") on prescribed medications because of financial constraints.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from the 2011 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Adults completing this survey were considered to have diabetes if they reported current use of insulin or "diabetic pills" (n=3,242).

Development of a structured observational method for the systematic assessment of school food-choice architecture.

The objective of this study is to develop a structured observational method for the systematic assessment of the food-choice architecture that can be used to identify key points for behavioral economic intervention intended to improve the health quality of children's diets. We use an ethnographic approach with observations at twelve elementary schools to construct our survey instrument. Elements of the structured observational method include decision environment, salience, accessibility/convenience, defaults/verbal prompts, number of choices, serving ware/method/packaging, and social/physical eating environment.

Mobile apps for pediatric obesity prevention and treatment, healthy eating, and physical activity promotion: just fun and games?

Mobile applications (apps) offer a novel way to engage children in behavior change, but little is known about content of commercially available apps for this population. We analyzed the content of apps for iPhone/iPad for pediatric weight loss, healthy eating (HE), and physical activity (PA). Fifty-seven apps were downloaded and tested by two independent raters.

Diet, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors as risk factors for childhood obesity: an urban and rural comparison.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the differences in diet, physical activity, and weight status among children living in rural and urban America and to study the roles of obesity-related behaviors in residence-based differences in childhood obesity.

Methods: We performed cross-sectional analysis of the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, restricted to 14,332 children aged 2-19 years old (2771 rural, 13,766 urban). Residence was measured at the census tract level using Rural-Urban Commuting Areas.

Policy instruments used by States seeking to improve school food environments.

US legislatures and program administrators have sought to control the sale of foods offered outside of federally funded meal programs in schools, but little is known about which policies, if any, will prevent obesity in children. We used a theoretical policy science typology to understand the types of policy instruments used by US state governments from 2001 to 2006. We coded 126 enacted bills and observed several types of instruments prescribed by state legislatures to influence the foods sold in schools and improve the school food environment.

Positive parenting practices associated with subsequent childhood weight change.

We aimed to identify positive parenting practices that set children on differential weight-trajectories. Parenting practices studied were cognitively stimulating activities, limit-setting, disciplinary practices, and parent warmth. Data from two U.

Children are aware of food insecurity and take responsibility for managing food resources.

Child food insecurity is measured using parental reports of children's experiences based on an adult-generated conceptualization. Research on other child experiences (e.g.

Policies that restrict sweetened beverage availability may reduce consumption in elementary-school children.

Objective: We investigated whether having a policy regarding the availability of sweetened beverages in school was associated with children's purchase and total weekly and daily consumption of sweetened beverages.

Design: Data were obtained from 10 719 children aged 9-13 years and 2065 elementary schools in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort. Multilevel logistic regression was used to determine the magnitude and significance of relationships between the availability of different beverages and purchase of sweetened beverages at school and overall consumption of beverages.

Improving patrons' meal selections through the use of point-of-selection nutrition labels.

Objectives: We examined changes in meal selection by patrons of university food-service operations when nutrition labels were provided at the point of selection.

Methods: We used a quasi-experimental, single-group, interrupted time-series design to examine daily sales before, during, and after provision of point-of-selection nutrition labels. Piecewise linear regression was employed to examine changes in the average energy content of entrées and a paired t test was used to detect differences in sales across the periods.

Restricting snacks in U.S. elementary schools is associated with higher frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption.

Efforts are needed to improve U.S. children's poor diet quality.

Biscuits, sausage, gravy, milk, and orange juice: school breakfast environment in 4 rural Appalachian schools.

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the school breakfast environment in rural Appalachian schools to inform school environment intervention and policy change.

Methods: A total of 4 rural schools with fourth- and fifth-grade students in East Tennessee were assessed. A cross-sectional descriptive examination of the school food environment where food service managers submitted school menus, production sheets, and vendor bid sheets as part of the dietary data collection protocol for a school-based nutrition intervention study.

Can distance education prepare future public health nutritionists? A case study.

Objective: To assess student retention, readiness, support and outcomes among students completing the Professional Practice Program in Nutrition (PPPN).

Design: Qualitative evaluation using semistructured, in-depth interviews conducted with PPPN graduates. Course grades, grade point averages, and comprehensive exam results compared 10 PPPN students from 2 cohorts and 72 residential students from 3 cohorts.

Food insecurity and subsequent weight gain in women.

Objective: Cross-sectional data indicate that a relationship between household food insecurity and overweight exists among women in the USA. Cross-sectional data cannot determine if food insecurity leads to overweight as some have hypothesised. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship of food insecurity with subsequent weight gain in women using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID).

The modifying effects of Food Stamp Program participation on the relation between food insecurity and weight change in women.

Food insecurity has been associated with overweight status in women. A number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain this association, some of which assume that household food insecurity is a cause of overweight. Similar to food insecurity, Food Stamp Program (FSP) participation has been associated with overweight status in women.

Food Stamp Program participation is associated with better academic learning among school children.

Household food insecurity is associated with multiple adverse outcomes in children and adolescents, including poor school performance. U.S.

Food insecurity affects school children's academic performance, weight gain, and social skills.

Food insecurity has been associated with diverse developmental consequences for U.S. children primarily from cross-sectional studies.

Proximity of supermarkets is positively associated with diet quality index for pregnancy.

Objectives: To investigate the association between distance to the closest supermarket and a composite measure of diet, the diet quality index for pregnancy (DQI-P) was constructed.

Methods: Data from the Pregnancy, Infection and Nutrition (PIN) cohort, a prospective study of determinants of preterm birth, were analyzed. Food frequency questionnaires were used to construct DQI-P which includes: servings of grains, vegetables, fruits, folate, iron and calcium intake, percentage of calories from fat, and meal pattern score.