SNAP-Ed

OBJECTIVE: To examine Fruit and Vegetable Prescription (FVRx) Program participants' and nonparticipants' experiences and perceptions of farm direct (FD) settings. DESIGN: Multiple-case study of adults with low income from 3 study groups: (1) FVRx intervention (produce prescription, nutrition education [NE], financial literacy education, health screening), (2) NE only, and (3) control (standard health care). Participant interviews with each group at baseline and 6 months...

This study describes barriers to using the MyPlate visual as a resource for communicating dietary recommendations to Asian American participants of a federally funded nutrition education program. To identify potential barriers to using MyPlate, an interdisciplinary team collected quantitative (n = 349) and qualitative (n = 40) data via a cross-sectional survey and a series of focus group interviews with convenience samples of Cambodian, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean adult participants of a nutrition education class in downtown Los Angeles...

Background: Policies addressing food insecurity are only effective if they are implemented successfully, serving those most at risk. Universal school meals provide a key intervention to schools that serve predominantly low-income families by providing free school breakfast and lunch to all. Unfortunately, low uptake of such provisions among students is concerning especially regarding school breakfast, warranting key implementation support for schools to ensure student nutrition needs are met...

This four-month study evaluated the virtual delivery of Fresh Conversations ( FC ). Participants were community-residing Iowans ages 60+ years. They were placed in one of four meeting groups based on location and participant preference: Zoom™, Adobe Connect® , group-based Zoom™ meeting, and teleconference. Participants were invited to complete a post-meeting online survey. Data analyses were completed using data from the first survey completed by each participant ( n  = 115). Descriptive statistics assessed response frequencies for all questions...

OBJECTIVE: Describe how a multiyear, mixed-methods evaluation informed the evolution of a healthy eating and physical activity social marketing campaign. DESIGN: Focus groups, A/B survey to test messages and images, telephone interviews (2019) with local programmers, and an annual outcome survey. SETTING: Statewide through multiple channels: billboards, transit signs, social media, website, and program resources like banners and posters. PARTICIPANTS: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education eligible adults, focusing on mothers and caregivers...

BACKGROUND: The goal of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) is to improve the likelihood that those eligible for SNAP will make healthy choices aligned with the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to evaluate long-term effects of a direct SNAP-Ed intervention, where participants actively engage in learning with educator instruction, on dietary quality and usual intake of key nutrient and food groups among Indiana SNAP-Ed-eligible women participants as an example sample in the context of no similar existing evaluation...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the validity of the Market Basket Analysis Tool (MBAT) for food environment quality within various retail environments compared to the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores (NEMS-S). METHODS: In-store assessments using the MBAT and the NEMS-S on the same day in a given store were conducted in grocery stores, corner stores, pharmacies, and dollar stores in a metropolis, and urban and rural counties across 4 states: Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia...

Fruit and Vegetable Prescription (FVRx) Programs combine produce prescriptions and nutrition education to reduce fruit and vegetable consumption barriers and promote health among low-income patient populations. This study examined whether a multi-level FVRx intervention model with intensive education improves dietary behaviors, food security, and health outcomes over single-level interventions alone. A 6-month nonrandomized, parallel, controlled trial was conducted with one intervention, FVRx ( n = 31) and two comparison groups, Ad hoc Nutrition Education ( n = 13) and Control ( n = 16)...

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity prevention efforts are needed in the United States, especially for families with low income. The purpose of this study is to determine whether HomeStyles-2, a nutrition education and childhood obesity prevention program for families with children in middle childhood (ages 6 to 11 years), motivates parents to re-shape their home environments and weight-related lifestyle practices to be more supportive of meeting national nutrition and physical activity recommendations and weight status of their children more so than those in the control condition...

PURPOSE: To describe how local quantitative and qualitative data were used to assess the progress of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) interventions in Los Angeles County, California. APPROACH: Data from the California Health Interview Survey informed the geographical concentration of program resources during the planning phase. At the end of the program, semi-structured interviews with stakeholders were conducted to assess factors that facilitated SNAP-Ed implementation...

OBJECTIVE: To categorize and quantify how states planned to use policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change strategies in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed). METHODS: Qualitative content analysis of SNAP-Ed annual plans from all 50 states, District of Columbia, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands between fiscal years 2014 and 2016. RESULTS: Between 2014 and 2016, the percentage of states that included PSEs as a statewide goal increased from 25% to 47%, and the percentage that planned to implement at least 1 PSE increased from 56% to 98%...

OBJECTIVE: To reduce children's sugar-sweetened beverage intake, California's Healthy-By-Default Beverage law (SB1192) mandates only unflavored dairy/non-dairy milk or water be the default drinks with restaurant children's meals. The objective of this study is to examine consistency with this law for meals sold through online platforms from restaurants in low-income California neighborhoods. DESIGN: This observational, cross-sectional study examines beverage availability, upcharges (additional cost), and presentation of beverage options consistent with SB1192 (using 4 increasingly restrictive criteria) within a random sample of quick service restaurants (QSRs) in SNAP-Ed eligible census tracts selling children's meals online from November 2020-April 2021...

Healthy food retail strategies are delivered by Cooperative Extension Services in Louisiana to improve public health among communities with lower income. To guide Cooperative Extension Services Programming, the aim of this study was to assess healthy food access among SNAP-authorized stores. This included comparing the availability, affordability, and quality of healthy foods sold in these stores by geography, ownership, and store type. Seventy-five Louisiana SNAP-authorized stores were selected for measurement...

In North Carolina, rural communities experience high rates of chronic illness due to health inequities exacerbated by the decline of major industries. Community gardens increase access to fresh produce and opportunities for physical activity and may offer additional benefits. These benefits can be difficult to measure as they are often unplanned or unintended. This article describes how we utilized Ripple Effect Mapping (REM), a participatory approach for evaluating complex interventions, to understand the impact of a SNAP-Ed-funded program...

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed), the educational branch of SNAP, can play an important role in improving dietary outcomes, eliminating food insecurity, and preventing chronic disease among low-income populations. This study examined the effects of local SNAP-Ed efforts on self-reported health behaviors and body mass index (BMI) over a 1-year period, using data collected from intercept surveys of program-eligible adults. INTERVENTION APPROACH: From 2016 to 2020, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health partnered with 24 community-based organizations to provide nutrition education and to implement policy, systems, and environmental changes in the community...

Purpose: To investigate diet quality by race/ethnicity among mothers and their children from low-income households throughout California. Methods: Cross-sectional telephone surveys of mothers and their children from randomly sampled households using a validated 24-h dietary assessment. Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) scores were calculated. Results: The mean HEI-2015 scores were lower for African American and white mothers and children compared with Latinx mothers and children. Conclusion: Addressing poor levels of overall diet quality among African American and white mothers and children from low-income households is of public health importance...

The COVID-19 pandemic had forced schools and school-based partnerships in the US to re-imagine extracurricular activities while schools were closed for in-person learning. We highlight lessons learned from implementing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Education Program (SNAP-Ed) virtually, a nutrition education program to improve nutrition literacy and skills among children, in a Maryland School of Nursing/K-8 Partnership school amid in-person school closures.

Introduction: Digital technologies, including text messaging and mobile phone apps, can be leveraged to increase people's physical activity and manage health. Chatbots, powered by artificial intelligence, can automatically interact with individuals through natural conversation. They may be more engaging than one-way messaging interventions. To our knowledge, physical activity chatbots have not been developed with low-income participants, nor in Spanish-the second most dominant language in the U.S. We recommend best practices for physical activity chatbots in English and Spanish for low-income women...

OBJECTIVE: To identify the readiness of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) implementers to facilitate policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes in conjunction with delivering direct nutrition education. DESIGN: Qualitative study using semistructured interviews. SETTING: A southeastern state. PARTICIPANTS: Purposive sample of SNAP-Ed staff (n = 19) from state implementing agencies (n = 3) in 1 state...

Fruit and Vegetable Prescription (FVRx) programs rely on diverse community and clinic partnerships to improve food security and fruit and vegetable consumption among medically underserved patient populations. Despite the growth in these programs, little is known about the feasibility or effectiveness of the unique partnerships developed to implement FVRx programs conducted in both community and free safety-net clinic settings. A 6-month nonrandomized controlled trial of an FVRx program was pilot tested with 54 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-eligible adults with diet-related chronic conditions...