Reducing the summer health gap: Evaluation of a community-based child nutrition assistance program

项目总结 K23奖项将支持候选人李智宇的职业发展，博士，RN，LSN，成为 独立研究人员，在公共健康营养计划评估方面具有专业知识，将指导未来 制定儿童肥胖预防干预措施，旨在减少与体重有关的差异。Dr。 Lee将通过开展创新的研究项目和职业发展活动来实现这一目标 与她的职业目标是一致的。这项拟议的研究将评估一名夏季社区儿童 营养援助计划，夏季食品服务计划(SFSP)，由美国资助 农业部。这项计划解决了粮食不安全加剧的营养缺口， 通过在项目地点为儿童提供膳食，儿童在夏季的几个月中体验收入。 然而，该计划的营养指南并不像其他营养援助那样全面 计划，这些计划可能会导致来自低收入家庭的儿童体重增加 不成比例地受到儿童肥胖的影响。此外，计划地点的运行长度和运行时间各不相同 除了提供食物之外，还有多少额外的健康规划。最后， 计划参与者的特征以及计划对儿童饮食质量和体重的影响不是 有据可查。如果没有这种知识，很难确定什么是有效的，对谁有效， 确定优化可持续发展战略计划和未来干预措施的目标。拟议的研究将进行 前瞻性观察性研究，描述项目地点和参与者的基线特征，以进行评估 当前计划的实施(目标1)，并确定站点和参与者的特征是否 与参加儿童方案以及食物不安全、饮食质量和体重增加的变化有关(目标2 和3)。通过SFSP招募的两组小学适龄儿童及其父母(n=210) 明尼苏达州双子城地区的站点将在决赛前和决赛中参与数据收集 课程为期数周(分别为春季和夏末)。数据收集组件包括在线 心理社会调查，三次24小时饮食召回，以及身高、体重和体脂百分比的测量。 此外，家长将在项目期间每周报告项目使用情况。由多个学科组成的导师团队 明尼苏达大学将指导拟议的项目和职业发展活动。训练区 包括：a)在减少粮食不安全和体重增加方面采取保健公平办法(Jayne Fulkerson博士和 Lisa Harnack)，b)高级统计技能，用于评估公共卫生的长期影响 方案(关卫华博士)，c)实施科学和干预发展(南希·舍伍德博士) 和d)与社区伙伴(Jayne Fulkerson博士和Lisa Harnack博士)的合作。该项目和 培训计划将使李博士成为一名独立调查员，同时为 美国国立卫生研究院的使命是减少低收入家庭儿童与体重有关的健康差距。

PROJECT SUMMARY The K23 award will support the career development of candidate, Jiwoo Lee, PhD, RN, LSN, to become an independent researcher with expertise in evaluation of public health nutrition programs that will guide future development of childhood obesity prevention interventions designed to reduce weight-related disparities. Dr. Lee will achieve this goal by conducting an innovative research project and career development activities that are aligned with her career goals. The proposed research will evaluate a summertime, community-based child nutrition assistance program, the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. This program addresses the nutritional gap of increased food insecurity that low- income children experience during the summer months by providing meals to children at program sites. However, nutritional guidelines of the program are not as comprehensive as other nutrition assistance programs, which may contribute to weight gain among children from low-income households who are disproportionately affected by childhood obesity. Additionally, the program sites vary in operation length and the extent to which there is additional healthy programming beyond the provision of foods. Lastly, characteristics of program participants as well as the program’s impact on child diet quality and weight are not well documented. Without this knowledge, it is challenging to characterize what works and for whom and identify targets for optimizing the SFSP and for future interventions. The proposed research will conduct a prospective observational study to describe program site and participant characteristics at baseline to evaluate the current program implementation (Aim 1) and determine if the site and participant characteristics are associated with child program attendance and changes in food insecurity, diet quality and weight gain (Aims 2 and 3). Two cohorts of elementary school-aged children and their parents (n=210) recruited through SFSP sites in Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota will participate in data collection before and in the final weeks of the program (spring and end of summer, respectively). Data collection components include an online psychosocial survey, three 24-hour dietary recalls, and measurement of height, weight and percent body fat. Additionally, parents will report program usage weekly during the program. A multi-disciplinary team of mentors at the University of Minnesota will guide the proposed project and career development activities. Training areas include: a) health equity approaches in reducing food insecurity and weight gain (Drs. Jayne Fulkerson and Lisa Harnack), b) advanced statistical skills for use in evaluation of the long-term impacts of public health programs (Dr. Weihua Guan), c) implementation science and intervention development (Dr. Nancy Sherwood) and d) collaborations with community partners (Drs. Jayne Fulkerson and Lisa Harnack). The project and training plan will position Dr. Lee to advance her career as an independent investigator while contributing to the mission of the NIH by reducing weight-related health disparities of children living in low-income households.