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Healthy Eating Research Newsletter
Spring 2021
In This Issue: Program Updates  │ Spotlight on School Nutrition  │ HER Research Recent Releases  │ Upcoming Events & Funding Opportunities
Program Updates
Announcing new grantees
Healthy Eating Research is proud to announce 8 new research teams funded through our 2020 special solicitation on beverage consumption in early childhood. This call for proposals focused exclusively on beverage consumption among children ages 0-5, and the resulting projects focus on a range of topics, including child care, sugary drink taxes, and beverage marketing. Learn more about each project here.
Spotlight on School Nutrition
School meals play a crucial role in children’s health and well-being, and have continued to do so throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. New resources from HER and our partners highlight the importance of healthy school meals, new research, and recent policy initiatives to support healthy school meals. 

A new special journal issue, supported by HER and published in the journal Nutrients, examines the crucial role school meals play in the health and well-being of our children, especially those in food insecure households. HER has also created a handout on 10 key findings. In a recent RWJF Culture of Health blog post, RWJF’s Jamie Bussel discusses new research findings on school meals with Dr. Mary Story, Program Director of HER.

Also check out:
HER Research
Systematic Review on Breastfeeding Interventions among Minority Women in the U.S.
This review found that policy and community level interventions delivered through WIC, healthcare facilities, and community agencies are likely to improve breastfeeding outcomes among women of color, though the combination of interventions at different levels has not been studied. Learn more.

WIC Online Grocery Ordering: A Click & Collect Model
For WIC agencies, vendors, and other stakeholders interested in improving access to WIC foods, this infographic describes a model for online grocery ordering that meets current federal regulations and makes it easier for program participants to redeem benefits, during COVID-19 and beyond. Learn more.

Reducing Digital Marketing of Infant Formulas
This report explores the policy frameworks and self-regulatory bodies that govern the use of sensitive consumer information about pregnancy and infant feeding used to market infant formula, and contains recommendations for how to better protect the public from infant formula marketing by the infant formula industry and through third-party retailers and digital platforms. Learn more.

Family Spirit Nurture Home Visiting Intervention for Native American Children
Results of this trial suggest that a home-visiting intervention created in partnership with and for Native American individuals is an effective strategy for promoting healthy infant feeding and growth in the first year of life. Learn more.
Recent Releases
Nutrition in Food Banking Toolkit
Feeding America’s Nutrition in Food Banking Toolkit aims to support food banks and food pantry programs as they work to address food insecurity and the overlapping challenges posed by structural inequities often preventing the selection and consumption of nutritious foods. It includes HER’s Nutrition Guidelines for the Charitable Food System, which were published last year. Learn more.

Healthy Hunger Relief Report
As we reach the one year mark since the COVID-19 pandemic began, a new report from the UConn Rudd Center and Partnership for a Healthier America reveals the experiences of food banks and food pantries and the ways in which they stepped up to maintain the health of families in need. Learn more.
Updated County Health Rankings for 2021
The County Health Rankings look at more than 30 factors — education, jobs, transportation, broadband access, and more — that influence how long and well people live. The County Health Rankings model shows us how these factors work together and illustrates where we can take action to improve health and eliminate unjust barriers to opportunity. Learn more.

Healthy Drinks for Toddlers
The UConn Rudd Center and 1,000 Days, with support from HER, have released 2 new videos for parents to help correct common misperceptions about the drinks they often serve their young children. These short videos dispel the marketing hype about fruit drinks and toddler milks and inform parents about their true ingredients and why experts do not recommend them. Learn more.
Upcoming Events & Funding Opportunities
Upcoming Workshop: Exploring Strategies for Sustainable Systems-Wide Changes to Reduce the Prevalence of Obesity
On April 8, the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions will host a virtual workshop on using systems applications to inform obesity solutions, where they will explore the connections between drivers of obesity, such as structural racism and stigma and bias, and promising solutions of obesity that have potential for lasting systems change. Sign up & join the conversation: http://bit.ly/obesitysustainablesystems