Expanding and Enhancing Food and Nutrition Education in New York City Public Schools: An Examination of Program Characteristics and Distribution.

Pamela Koch,Claire Raffel,Laura A Guerra,Heewon L Gray,Julia Mccarthy

doi:10.3390/nu12082423

Pamela Koch, Claire Raffel + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082423

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Abstract

To expand their capacity, many schools partner with food and nutrition education programs (FNPs). Public policies and funding can support FNPs, but comprehensive data on the organizations that run FNPs, their program characteristics, or distribution across schools did not exist in NYC. This study aims to help local education and health agencies assess the characteristics of food and nutrition education in schools, as well as to measure progress implementing school policies and practices. A cross-sectional study on NYC FNPs was conducted during the 2016–2017 school year. Survey data on organizations and the FNPs they operate were collected. Data on schools in which FNPs operate were gathered. To determine distribution of FNPs across schools and by school demographics, the database of FNPs in schools was combined with a publicly available database of NYC schools. In 2016–2017, 40 organizations operated 101 FNPs in 56% of NYC public schools. These FNPs varied by goals, content, activities, location, and populations served. Information on these variations can help policymakers, advocates, funders, and schools expand school-based food and nutrition education. To ensure equitable access, more coordination, investment, and collaboration are needed.

Highlights

Food and nutrition education engages students in hands-on activities, combining direct education with environmental reinforcements at the individual, community, and policy levels to build motivation, skills, and knowledge to make healthy choices [1,2,3]
Across-sectional study to determine the landscape of food and nutrition education programs (FNPs) across the 1840 New York City (NYC) public schools was conducted during the 2016–2017 school year
Eighteen of the 32 that did not complete the survey declared that their organizations no longer provided food and nutrition education; 14 others did not respond despite extensive outreach

Summary

Introduction

Food and nutrition education engages students in hands-on activities, combining direct education with environmental reinforcements at the individual, community, and policy levels to build motivation, skills, and knowledge to make healthy choices [1,2,3]. Food and nutrition education promotes healthy behaviors and body weight, but it can improve students0 academic performance and participation in school meals [4,5,6,7,8]. Research recommends that students partake in 30 to 50 h of behaviorally focused, high quality food and nutrition education each year [9]. Academic requirements, standardized testing, and staff expertise can limit schools0 capacity to provide the recommended amount [10].

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