R01 – Examining system-wide implementation of new flexibilities to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.
This 4 year, 2.65 million dollar grant is funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute (NIH-NHLBI). In 2018, a significant policy change to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs issued flexibilities, relaxing nutrition standards for milk, whole grains, and sodium. For this study, we will take a comprehensive approach to describe the impact of policy flexibilities to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs on the many levels, including schools, the food industry, and student consumers, involved in implementation. Specifically, we will conduct a nationwide survey to assess current flexibility implementation practices among schools and examine factors that influence decisions by schools to implement flexibilities. We will also interview people in the food industry to understand how the policy changes result in decisions to change food supply and distribution. Finally, we will leverage insights from the data collected from surveys and interviews to develop an agent-based model. We will use this model as a “virtual policy laboratory,” allowing for analyses of potential effects of different policy changes on child health, examination of ways to improve effective and equitable district-level implementation of the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, and development of tools to inform real-world policymaking
PI: Sarah Moreland Russell
Co-I Ross Hammond, Peg Allen
Team: Jess Gannon, Jason Jabbari, Dan Ferris and Gabby McLoughlin. Matt Kasman
WashU Here and Next Grant to develop a Policy Sustainability Framework
Sarah Moreland Russell and Karen Joynt Maddox were recently awarded a Here and Next Interdisciplinary Grant to develop a conceptual framework for Policy Sustainability. This is a developmental study using mixed methods and a variety of sources including literature review, input from a panel of policy experts, and the results of concept mapping to identify the core domains of a conceptual framework for policy sustainment. Several of the WashU PRC faculty and staff will be engaged in this project including Ross Brownson, Jess Gannon, Rebekah Jacobs, and Linda Dix.