June 2021

In Health and Solidarity,

Wagahta Semere, MD, MHS
Fellowship Director & Assistant Professor
UCSF School of Medicine
Upcoming Activities
Tuesday, June 22, 12:15 - 1:15PM: Cohort 3 Listening Session (For Cohort 3 Fellows only)


No activities for this month.
Thursday, August 12, 12:15 - 1:15PM: Works-In-Progress Call (Fellows Only)
Thursday, August 19, 2:00 - 3:00PM: Quarterly Local Health Department Check-In (LHDs Only)
Fellow Activities
Drs. Melissa Campos and Fadra Whyte (San Diego County), in collaboration with Californians for Less Soda, submitted an op-ed for consideration in a local San Diego newspaper.
Dr. Kristen Hughes (Santa Barbara County) used her recently developed persuasive narrative piece as part of letter to the Santa Barbara Unified School District encouraging the reopening of schools.
*Champion Provider Listserv*
Collaborate & communicate with Champion Provider
Fellows across the state about your community change efforts.
Post a message by emailing: champion-providers@googlegroups.com
NOTE: Please do not use the listserv to share treatment protocol for patients. 
Policy Brief
Legislation takes aim at addressing food insecurity and child nutrition

The COVID-19 Pandemic has shed a light on a persistent issue in the US: food insecurity. Two pieces of legislation explore opportunities to address food insecurity and child nutrition.

Universal School Meals Program Act of 2021 (H.R.3115/S.1530)
The proposed legislation would ensure free access to meals at school, after school, during the summer and at child care centers through established food nutrition programs. Components of the bill include:
  • School breakfast and lunch provided at no charge to all children, with increased reimbursement rate
  • Free afterschool meals and snacks to all children, eliminating local eligibility requirements
  • Expansion of Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) for low-income children
  • Provision of up to three, free meals a day and a snack for children in child care centers
  • Encourage local food procurement with an additional 30 cent reimbursement for schools
(FRAC, May 2021)

Stop Child Hunger Act of 2021 (H.R. 3519/S. 1831)
The proposed bill would establish a permanent EBT program for children when they are out of school. This would expand upon current Summer EBT programming, to include the balance of school breakfast and lunch for school closures of five or more days (like winter and spring break) and unexpected closures.

(FRAC, June 2021)
From the Field
Note: Materials included in this section are for reference and information purposes only and do not imply endorsement by the federal government, California Department of Public Health, or the University of California, San Francisco.
ChangeLab Solutions (May 2021)
Food insecurity has spiked during the ongoing pandemic, affecting not only individual health but health equity in our communities. Legal & Policy Strategies for Health Care & Food System Partners aims to assist staff in community organizations, local governments, and health systems in forming effective partnerships to promote equitable, healthy food access. Offering real-world case studies and specific strategies, this resource shows how partners can build a more resilient and just food system for the long term. 
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), Office of Policy Support (May 2021)
Of the 44 million eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in a given month in FY2018, 82% participated. The report also found 1. those with the lowest incomes participated at higher rates than other eligible groups; and 2. participation among the elderly increased by 4% from 2016.
Beck A., et al. Academic Pediatrics. 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2021.05.015
Parents of children with overweight or obesity living in San Francisco perceived children to be engaging in increased screen time, decreased physical activity and later bedtimes. This study points at the potential impact that COVID-19 mitigation efforts might have had on the metabolic health of a vulnerable population.
Voices for Healthy Kids, American Heart Association, May 2021
The toolkit provides tips for individuals working in sugar-sweetened beverage reduction policy, highlighting ways to frame messages, including insight on words to use and words to avoid.
More Opportunities
The National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research and the Fogarty International Center's Center for Global Health Studies, is hosting a two-part webinar series Childhood Obesity Research Across Borders. The webinar series will explore synergies between childhood obesity prevention research conducted in Latin America and among Latinx populations in the US, sharing research, lessons learned and opportunities for shared research agendas.