Objective: Because farmers' markets include a variety of fruits and vegetables, shopping at farmers' markets would likely improve diet quality among lowincome consumers, as well as promote sustainable direct farm-to-consumer business models. However, not much is known about how to promote farmers' market shopping among low-income consumers. Therefore, the purpose of the present paper was to examine barriers to and facilitators of shopping at farmers' markets and associations between shopping at farmers' markets and self-reported dietary behaviours (fruit and vegetable, sugar-sweetened beverage and fast-food consumption) and BMI. Design: Cross-sectional analyses of associations between farmers' market shopping frequency, awareness of markets, access to markets, dietary behaviours and BMI.
Schools have begun to implement competitive food and beverage policies. However, school environments, particularly in secondary schools, are not 100% compliant with school nutrition standards. These findings can inform policymakers and school officials about the feasibility of implementing competitive food standards in schools.
Background California law has standards for physical education (PE) instruction in K-12 public schools; audits found that the Los Angeles Unified School District did not enforce the standards. In 2009, the district adopted a PE policy to comply with these standards. Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of the PE policy in district schools. Methods PE class observations were conducted using the System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years in an income-stratified random sample of 34 elementary, middle, and high schools to assess changes in PE class size, class duration, and time students spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. Results PE class duration increased in high-income elementary schools. Mean class size decreased in low-income middle schools. Conclusions There was limited implementation of the PE policy 2 years after passage. Opportunities exist to continue monitoring and improving PE quantity and quality.
States and school districts around the country are developing policies that set nutrition standards for competitive foods and beverages sold outside of the United States Department of Agriculture reimbursable school lunch program. However, few tools exist for monitoring the implementation of these new policies. The objective of this research was to develop a computerized assessment tool, the Food and Beverage Environment Analysis and Monitoring System (FoodBEAMS™), to collect data on the competitive school food environment and to test the inter-rater reliability of the tool among research and non-research professionals. FoodBEAMS was used to collect data in spring 2007, on the competitive foods and beverages sold in 21 California high schools. Adherence of the foods and beverages to California's competitive food and beverage nutrition policies for schools (Senate Bills 12 and 965) was determined using the data collected by both research and non-research professionals. The inter-rater reliability between the data collectors was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Researcher versus researcher and researcher versus non-researcher inter-rater reliability was high for both foods and beverages, with ICCs ranging from .972 to .987. The results of this study provide evidence that FoodBEAMS is a promising tool for assessing and monitoring adherence to nutrition standards for competitive foods sold on school campuses and can be used reliably by both research and non-research professionals.
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