About once a month, MATCH Project staff review a wide variety of academic journals to identify recent articles having particular relevance to population health policy, research, and practice. University of Wisconsin Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society scholars and faculty recommend an article or two to feature on the blog.
We recently connected with Professor Marilyn Nanney at the University of Minnesota to learn more about her recent research that examines the relationship between state school nutrition and physical activity environments and youth obesity.
What prompted you to do this research?
Our research team set out to explore the effectiveness of school nutrition and activity policies. This study just scratches the surface of this complex question. The daunting scale of the current childhood obesity epidemic has put tremendous pressure on policy makers to take action based on limited--but best available—evidence. Policy decisions are being made on evidence that is less than we would accept for other health interventions like drug therapy, for example. Since the problem requires that we take action now (rather than waiting until we have all the answers), I agree with this approach. However, evaluating the effectiveness, including negative consequences, of policies is important to do, especially with limited resources. This study is one tiny step towards building that evidence.
What do you think is particularly interesting and/or novel about your approach?
First, we were economical. Instead of collecting new data, we found data that already existed (from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that could help us answer our research questions. Second, we took a comprehensive approach to evaluating the school obesity prevention policy environment. We looked at school vending and physical education policies, infrastructure and system supports, and expert certification and training to create as broad a picture as possible of the policy environment. We went beyond many other studies, which have tended to focus on one or two components of the school environment, such as vending or fundraising policies.
Briefly describe your findings. Did you encounter any unexpected obstacles?
Our main finding is that the “fattest” states have more state driven school nutrition policies. It seems that as the number of school policies mandated by the state increases, youth weight increases! Since it’s highly unlikely that nutrition policies make kids fatter, our interpretation is that the “fattest” states (like Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi) are responding to the problem by instituting more state-level nutrition policies. But we need a different kind of study to test this assumption.
What are the implications of this work either for further research or for practice?
This study offers many opportunities to move forward with this line of research. First, we need a better understanding of the relationship between school policies and weight –especially over time. Second, we need to bring the focus down from the 30,000 foot view (i.e., state policies and state youth obesity prevalence) to the more proximal view (i.e., the effect of school policies upon students attending those schools). Answering these two questions will bring us closer to evaluating policy effectiveness. However, since kids’ spend much of their time in out-of-school environments, a significant challenge still remains in teasing out the contribution of school policies upon weight. Do school food policies promote better food choices when kids are away from school--or not?
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