University of Illinois at Chicago's Institute for Health Research and Policy and the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis

2016-2019

The Policies for Action Research Hub co-located at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Institute for Health Research and Policy and the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis is examining nutrition and activity-related policy implementation efforts and/or policy impacts on institutions and systems serving children and adolescents as well as on their diet and activity-related outcomes. Two primary studies will employ qualitative and quantitative (survey research) methods to examine: (1) changes in the dietary content of meals served in child care centers participating in the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Programs following implementing of revised federal meal pattern standards; and (2) the impact of state- and local-level pay-to-play policies and laws nationwide on creating disparities in children and adolescents’ opportunities for engaging in school sports programming. Additional projects will include a few small-scale evaluation studies of policy strategies implemented as part of the Voices for Healthy Kids (VFHK) program, a joint initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Heart Association.