Reduced access to school meals during public health emergencies can accelerate food insecurity and nutritional status, particularly for low-income children in urban areas. To prevent the exacerbation of health disparities, there is a need to understand the implementation of meal distribution among large urban school districts during emergencies and to what degree these strategies provide equitable meal access. Our case study of four large urban school districts during the COVID-19 pandemic aims to address these knowledge gaps. Guided by the Getting to Equity (GTE) framework, we conducted a mixed-methods study evaluating emergency meal distribution and strategy implementation in four large urban school districts (Chicago Public Schools, Houston Independent School District, Los Angeles Unified School District, and New York City Department of Education). We gathered data from school district websites on (1) meal service and delivery sites and (2) district documents, policies, communication, and resources. Using qualitative coding approaches, we identified unique and shared district strategies to address meal distribution and communications during the pandemic according to the four components of the GTE framework: increase healthy options, reduce deterrents, build on community capacity, and increase social and economic resources. We matched district census tract boundaries to demographic data from the 2018 American Community Survey and United States Department of Agriculture food desert data, and used geographic information systems (GIS) software to identify meal site locations relative to student population, areas of high poverty and high minority populations, and food deserts. We found that all districts developed strategies to optimize meal provision, which varied across case site. Strategies to increase healthy options included serving adults and other members of the general public, providing timely information on meal site locations, and promoting consumption of a balanced diet. The quantity and frequency of meals served varied, and the degree to which districts promoted high-quality nutrition was limited. Reducing deterrents related to using inclusive language and images and providing safety information on social distancing practices in multiple languages. Districts built community capacity through partnering with first responder, relief, and other community organizations. Increased social and economic resources were illustrated by providing technology assistance to families, childcare referrals for essential workers, and other wellness resources. Geospatial analysis suggests that service locations across cities varied to some degree by demographics and food environment, with potential gaps in reach. This study identifies strategies that have the potential to increase equitable access to nutrition assistance programs. Our findings can support (1) ongoing efforts to address child food insecurity during the pandemic and (2) future meal provision through programs like the Summer Food Service Program and Seam...
This investigation aimed to determine if children with ASD are impaired in their ability to switch attention between different tasks, and whether performance is further impaired when required to switch across two separate modalities (visual and auditory). Eighteen children with ASD (9-13 years old) were compared with 18 typically-developing children matched with the ASD group for mental age, and also with 18 subjects with learning difficulties matched with the ASD group for mental and chronological age. Individuals alternated between two different visual tasks, and between a different visual task and an auditory task. Children with ASD performed worse than both comparison groups at both switching tasks. Moreover, children with ASD had greater difficulty when different modalities were required than where only one modality was required in the switching task in comparison with participants matched in terms of mental and chronological age.
In recent years, advocates have expressed concern about the exponential growth of dollar stores in low-income communities, given their limited stock of healthy foods, and several municipalities in the U.S. have passed novel policies to curb the proliferation of these stores. The purpose of this scan is to create a legal database to inform future healthy retail policies and programs. Legal mapping methods were used to identify local policies aimed at moderating dollar store proliferation. A search yielded 25 policies that met the inclusion criteria, all enacted between 2018 and 2020. Recent policies aiming to slow local dollar store growth were mostly passed in low-income communities of color. All identified policies were passed in either the Midwest or South. The majority of municipalities that passed the policies had populations where more than half of residents identified as non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic and where the poverty rate was greater than the national average. Twelve (48%) municipalities imposed temporary moratoria halting new dollar stores from opening, and ten (40%) banned new construction within a specified distance of an existing dollar store. Key themes identified from analysis of policies’ purpose statements included increasing healthy food availability, diversifying local businesses, and improving community safety. These findings may be useful to leaders in other communities seeking to potentially moderate the impact of dollar stores on community health, as well as researchers and policy makers seeking to evaluate the efficacy of existing policies.
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