A Summer Nutrition Benefit Pilot Program and Low-income Children's Food Security.

BACKGROUND: Federal summer meals programs serve less than one-sixth of children that receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year. To address this gap in food assistance for school-aged children, the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (SEBTC) Demonstrations provided summer food assistance in the form of electronic benefits transfer cards to households with school-aged children certified for free or reduced-price meals during the school year. METHODS: Over 2011-2013, the SEBTC demonstrations were evaluated by using a random assignment design. Households were randomly assigned a monthly $60-per-child benefit, a monthly $30-per-child benefit, or no benefit, depending on the study year. Key outcomes included children's food security and consumption of foods and food groups related to a healthful diet (diet quality). At baseline (in the spring) and again in the summer, the evaluation surveyed ∼52 000 households over the course of the 3 years of the impact study. RESULTS: SEBTC reduced the prevalence of very low food security among children by one-third. It also had positive impacts on 6 of the 8 child nutrition outcomes measured (amounts of fruits and vegetables; whole grains; dairy foods; and added sugars). CONCLUSIONS: SEBTC is a promising model to improve food security and the dietary quality of low-income school-aged children in the summer months.

Delivering Summer Electronic Benefit Transfers for Children through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children: Benefit Use and Impacts on Food Security and Foods Consumed.

BACKGROUND: The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfers for Children (SEBTC) demonstration piloted summer food assistance through electronic benefit transfers (EBTs), providing benefits either through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) EBT. OBJECTIVE: To inform food assistance policy and describe how demonstrations using WIC and SNAP models differed in benefit take-up and impacts on food security and children's food consumption. DESIGN: Sites chose to deliver SEBTC using the SNAP or WIC EBT system. Within each site, in 2012, households were randomly assigned to a benefit group or a no-benefit control group. PARTICIPANTS: Grantees (eight states and two Indian Tribal Organizations) selected school districts serving many low-income children. Schoolchildren were eligible in cases where they had been certified for free or reduced-price meals during the school year. Before the demonstration, households in the demonstration sample had lower incomes and lower food security, on average, than households with eligible children nationally. INTERVENTION: Grantees provided selected households with benefits worth $60 per child per summer month using SNAP or WIC EBT systems. SNAP-model benefits covered most foods. WIC-model benefits could only be used for a specific package of foods. OUTCOME MEASURES: Key outcomes were children's food security (assessed using the US Department of Agriculture food security scale) and food consumption (assessed using food frequency questions). STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Differences in mean outcomes between the benefit and control groups measured impact, after adjusting for household characteristics. RESULTS: In WIC sites, benefit-group households redeemed a lower percentage of SEBTC benefits than in SNAP sites. Nonetheless, the benefit groups in both sets of sites had similar large reductions in very low food security among children, relative to no-benefit controls. Children receiving benefits consumed more healthful foods, and these impacts were larger in WIC sites. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest the WIC SEBTC model deserves strong consideration.

Efficacy of body mechanics education on posture while computing in middle school children.

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this pilot study were to examine the working position of middle school children during their media/technology class, test student's knowledge of healthy computing habits, and evaluate the efficacy of two educational interventions compared to a control group. METHOD: A multi-group pre-test/post-test design was used. 19 students (mean age 11.6) participated in the study during their media/technology class. Students' postures while computing were evaluated on-site. Additionally five students were video recorded while they used the classroom computers so that on-site observations could be compared to video recorded data. All participants were given a written pre-test prior to educational interventions. The 12-minute educational intervention session focused on healthy computing habits, the importance of stretching, and group performance of specific upper extremity stretches. Additional education regarding overall postural health including good body mechanics was provided to one intervention group. RESULTS: The results of this study indicate that a twelve-minute educational intervention significantly improved participants' knowledge of healthy computing habits as measured by written pre-tests and post-tests. Participants who received additional education on overall postural health and body mechanics demonstrated the largest rate of improvement in positioning while computing. No statistical difference between intervention groups was noted on post-test scores, which attempted to measure long-term learning of healthy computing habits. CONCLUSION: Although more research in this area is warranted, it appears that education regarding correct positioning at computer workstations combined with instructing students on the importance of overall healthy posture may foster correct positioning while students use computers at school.