Small prizes increased healthful school lunch selection in a Midwestern school district

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 370-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Siegel ◽  
Mary Kate Lockhart ◽  
Allison S. Barnes ◽  
Elizabeth Hiller ◽  
Roger Kipp ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
School District ◽  
Food Selection ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Intervention Period ◽  
Small School District ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
American Children ◽  
Healthful Food

As obesity has become a pressing health issue for American children, greater attention has been focused on how schools can be used to improve how students eat. Previously, we piloted the use of small prizes in an elementary school cafeteria to improve healthful food selection. We hoped to increase healthful food selection in all the elementary schools of a small school district participating in the United States Department of Agriculture Lunch Program by offering prizes to children who selected a Power Plate (PP), which consisted of an entrée with whole grains, a fruit, a vegetable, and plain low-fat milk. In this study, the PP program was introduced to 3 schools sequentially over an academic year. During the kickoff week, green, smiley-faced emoticons were placed by preferred foods, and children were given a prize daily if they chose a PP on that day. After the first week, students were given a sticker or temporary tattoo 2 days a week if they selected a PP. Combining data from the 3 schools in the program, students increased PP selection from 4.5% at baseline to 49.4% (p < 0.0001) during an intervention period of 2.5 school weeks. The school with the longest intervention period, 6 months, showed a PP selection increase of from 3.9% to 26.4% (p < 0.0001). In conclusion, giving small prizes as rewards dramatically improves short-term healthful food selection in elementary school children.

Demonstrating Nutrient Cost Gradients: A Brooklyn Case Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 244-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Karp ◽  
Gary Wong ◽  
Marguerite Orsi
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Food Selection ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Caloric Density ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Introduction: Foods dense in micronutrients are generally more expensive than those with higher energy content. These cost-differentials may put low-income families at risk of diminished micronutrient intake. Objectives: We sought to determine differences in the cost for iron, folate, and choline in foods available for purchase in a low-income community when assessed for energy content and serving size. Methods: Sixty-nine foods listed in the menu plans provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for low-income families were considered, in 10 domains. The cost and micronutrient content for-energy and per-serving of these foods were determined for the three micronutrients. Exact Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for comparisons of energy costs; Spearman rho tests for comparisons of micronutrient content. Ninety families were interviewed in a pediatric clinic to assess the impact of food cost on food selection. Results: Significant differences between domains were shown for energy density with both cost-for-energy (p < 0.001) and cost-per-serving (p < 0.05) comparisons. All three micronutrient contents were significantly correlated with cost-for-energy (p < 0.01). Both iron and choline contents were significantly correlated with cost-per-serving (p < 0.05). Of the 90 families, 38 (42 %) worried about food costs; 40 (44 %) had chosen foods of high caloric density in response to that fear, and 29 of 40 families experiencing both worry and making such food selection. Conclusion: Adjustments to USDA meal plans using cost-for-energy analysis showed differentials for both energy and micronutrients. These differentials were reduced using cost-per-serving analysis, but were not eliminated. A substantial proportion of low-income families are vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies.

scholarly journals Comparison of children's dietary intake patterns with US dietary guidelines

2000 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise M. Brady ◽  
Christine H. Lindquist ◽  
Sara L. Herd ◽  
Michael I. Goran
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Intake ◽  
Nutrition Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Adult Health ◽  
Dietary Intakes ◽  
Food Groups ◽  
Dietary Recommendations ◽  
American Children

Monitoring dietary intake patterns among children is important in order to explore and prevent the onset of adult health problems. The aim of the present study was to compare children's dietary intakes with national recommendations and to determine whether sex or ethnic differences were evident. This was done using a methodology that allows assessment of intake from the major components of the Food Guide Pyramid developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA: ). The sample studied included 110 African-American and Caucasian males and females (mean age 9·9 years, BMI 20·1 kg/m2) from Birmingham, AL, USA, who were participating in a study investigating the development of obesity. Dietary data were based on three 24 h recalls and food group intake was determined using the USDA Pyramid Servicing Database. The results indicated that a high percentage of subjects failed to meet the recommended number of servings from each of the food groups. For example, only 5 % and 9 % met fruit and dietary group recommendations respectively. Consumption of foods from the Pyramid ‘tip’ (including discretionary fat and added sugar) contributed almost 50 % of the diet. African-Americans were more likely to meet requirements for the meat group, with a higher proportion of Caucasians meeting dietary recommendations. Males were more likely to meet the vegetable group guidelines although females consumed more energy per day from discretionary fat. In conclusion, these results suggest that implementation of nutrition education programmes may be important for promoting healthy nutrition among American children.

scholarly journals Air Travel in Small Communities: An Econometric Framework and Results

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dipasis Bhadra
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Weighted Least Squares ◽  
Local Area ◽  
The United States ◽  
Air Travel ◽  
United States Bureau ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Local Areas

In this paper, we examine the relationship between origin and destination (O&D) travel and local area characteristics for small communities. By combining data from Bureau of Transportation Statistics/United States Department of Transportation (BTS/DOT) on O&D travel with that of local area economic and demographic activities supplied by the United States Bureau of Economic Analyses (BEA), Department of Commerce, we specify a semi-log linear demand relationship for O&D travel in small communities. The resultant dataset covering the period 1999-2000 has more than 4,700 observations; 2,686 for communities without any small hubs, and 2,087 for communities with small hubs. Using a weighted least squares method, we estimate demand for air travel, defined by O&D pairs, for smaller communities. Our results indicate that average fare affects passenger demand negatively for both types of communities. Our results also confirm that local area income affects travel positively in both cases. However, the levels of travel tend to be affected by population differently; origin population affecting traffic negatively for smaller communities without any hub and positively for communities with small hubs. Presence of smaller hubs affects air travel positively; and market concentration of airlines affects O&D travel negatively. We demonstrate in this paper that factors affecting the economic framework are the ultimate factors driving the demand for air travel in the small communities in the long run. We also discuss approaches using our methodology for deriving bottom-up projections. These projections have distinct characteristics that may make them more useful for analyzing flow features, such as passenger and aircraft flows by local areas, determining and prioritizing infrastructure investment requirements by local areas, and determining revenue potential from these travels.

Is Today’s Physical Education the Legacy that Franklin Henry Had Hoped For?

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta J. Park
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Community Centers ◽  
Surgeon General ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
American Children ◽  
Precipitous Decline

The 1964 article “Physical Education, An Academic Discipline” did much to foster more and better relevant research, which is what its author, Franklin Henry, who had earned a PhD in Physiological Psychology, had hoped would occur. However, a number of negative changes (which he certainly did not want) soon began to occur in the field of physical education, which now too rarely uses that name. (Few, if any, other departments in universities and colleges have made as many name changes.) The precipitous decline of efforts to put into practice the results of research (hence, the absence of pedagogy and other “applied” courses in too many curricula) is proving to be especially detrimental. American children and young people had become so inactive that the United States Department of Health and Human Services considered it imperative to state in Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General (published in 1996): “Community leaders need to reexamine whether enough resources have been devoted to the maintenance of parks, playgrounds, community centers, and physical education. Schools and universities need to reintroduce daily, quality physical activity as a key component of a comprehensive education.” This decline has continued in spite of the fact that the number of scientific and medical studies that verify the importance of physical activity continues to grow. The field once known almost exclusively as “physical education” has become divided and fractured. When will things change for the better?

Small Prizes Improve Food Selection in a School Cafeteria Without Increasing Waste

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle E. Hudgens ◽  
Allison S. Barnes ◽  
Mary Kate Lockhart ◽  
Samantha C. Ellsworth ◽  
Monna Beckford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Inner City ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
Food Selection ◽  
Fruit And Vegetable ◽  
Preferred Foods ◽  
Cash Register ◽  
Significant Change ◽  
Healthful Food ◽  
School Cafeteria

We recently demonstrated that small prizes given for a “Power Plate” (plain fat-free milk, entrée, fruit and vegetable) can be used in an elementary school cafeteria to increase healthful food selection by over 300%. The purpose of this study was to measure changes in food waste when the Power Plate (PP) program is implemented. The PP intervention was conducted at an inner-city elementary school. Emoticons were placed next to the preferred foods and children were given a small prize if they selected the PP. Data were obtained by observation and cash register receipts. The trays of 111 students before the intervention and 96 after were examined for content and waste. PP selection increased from 2% to 73% ( P < .001). There was no significant change in waste. We conclude that small prizes as an incentive for better food selection does not lead to an increase food waste.

Unifying Calibration Parameters for Dielectric Moisture Meter

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Péter Mészáros ◽  
David B. Funk
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Temperature Correction ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Correction Coefficient ◽  
Prototype System ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
Grain Moisture ◽  
University Of Budapest ◽  
Improved Accuracy

The Unified Grain Moisture Algorithm is capable of improved accuracy and allows the combination of many grain types into a single “unified calibration”. The purposes of this research were to establish processes for determining unifying parameters from the chemical and physical properties of grains. The data used in this research were obtained as part of the United States Department of Agriculture-Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration's Annual Moisture Calibration Study. More than 5,000 grain samples were tested with a Hewlett-Packard 4291A Material/Impedance Analyzer. Temperature tests were done with a Very High Frequency prototype system at Corvinus University of Budapest. Typical chemical and physical parameters for each of the major grain types were obtained from the literature. Data were analyzed by multivariate chemometric methods. One of the most important unifying parameters (Slope) and the temperature correction coefficient were successfully modeled. The Offset and Translation unifying parameters were not modeled successfully, but these parameters can be estimated relatively easily through limited grain tests.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document