The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 sets new nutrition standards for schools, requiring them to serve a greater variety and quantity of fruits and vegetables. Extension educators in New Jersey partnered with school nutrition professionals to implement a school wellness initiative that included taste-testing activities to support…

Purpose/Objectives: A national trend to improve school breakfast participation is the integration of breakfast within the school day. Breakfast in the classroom programs increase student access to school breakfast. Service models include "grab and go," distribution of breakfasts to each classroom, and mobile breakfast carts in hallways.…

In 2006, public schools in Kyrgyzstan introduced free meals for all primary school children as a nutrition and poverty measure. This paper attempts to assess how participation in the free meals programme affected the school attendance of primary and secondary school students. The analysis of demographic differences in schooling across income…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of the "Montana Recess Before Lunch Survey" was to explore benefits, challenges, and factors associated with successful implementation of Recess Before Lunch (RBL), from the perspective of school principals. Methods: An online written questionnaire was distributed to all (N = 661) Montana elementary and…

Improving children's nutrition and physical activity have become priorities in the United States. This quasi-experimental study evaluated the longitudinal effects of a 3-year, school-based, health promotion intervention (i.e. nutrition and physical education, classroom physical activity, professional development and health promotion for teachers…

Given the recent rise in childhood obesity, the School Breakfast Program (SBP) and National School Lunch Program (NSLP) have received renewed attention. Using panel data on more than 13,500 primary school students, we assess the relationship between SBP and NSLP participation and (relatively) long-run measures of child weight. After documenting a…

Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity is high, particularly among minority youth. The objective of this article was to evaluate parent and school staff perspectives of childhood health and weight qualitatively to guide the development of a school-based obesity prevention program for minority youth. Methods: Hispanic parents (N?=?9) of…

Purpose/Objective: To develop and implement a "Tasting Challenge" activity that is feasible for schools to influence and measure the willingness of elementary students to try new foods. Methods: The Tasting Challenge was as part of a classroom activity. Children were individually offered jicama and edamame to taste and rate (yummy, ok,…

Many nutrition education campaigns targeting children in the United States focus on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, but most don't specifically promote legumes. The project described here sought to pilot the effect of an Extension nutrition education program on first grade children's willingness to try foods containing legumes. A…

Purpose/Objectives: Existing research has investigated the effects of using individual incentives and positive reinforcements to influence children to eat more fruits and vegetables for lunch and snack during school. This study explored using group-level incentives to motivate children in a Wisconsin elementary school to eat more fruits and…

Due to the state of California's budget crisis with education, over the last several years, Gifted and Talented education programs have been cut across the state. As a result, students are being simply taught to take a test, and enrichment to students, those considered "gifted" and all others, is not being offered to the extent that is…

Research Findings: In 2 experiments, we tested whether children generalize psychological and biological properties to novel foods. We used an induction task in which a property (either biological or psychological) was associated with a target food. Children were then asked whether a taxonomically related and a script-related food would also have…

By nurturing a sense of respect and value for self, others, and the world, teachers encourage children to become stewards of their school and home communities. Developing young children's sense of responsibility (understanding that their actions can have important and enduring impacts on others and on the environment) is a core value of Montessori…

This paper presents an updated WWC (What Works Clearinghouse) Quick Review of the Report "Head Start Impact Study: Final Report". This study examined the effects of offering Head Start to 3- and 4-year-olds. Head Start is a federal program aimed at boosting the school readiness of low-income children by providing preschool education and…

The incidence of overweight and obese children, especially those from low-income and minority backgrounds, continues to rise. Multiple factors contribute to the rising rates. In order to gain an understanding of factors contributing to obesity in low-income families, a qualitative study was conducted with the purpose of gaining knowledge of…