CURRENT PROJECTS LED BY DR. KENNEY:
The Child Advertising and Product Placement Study (Kid APPS)
This study will explore the kinds of advertising that young children and their families see for sugary drinks and other beverages when they’re on mobile devices.
To learn more about the grant for this study, please visit here
If you are a study participant or interested in participating, please visit here
Early Nutrition: Researching the Implementation of CACFP Healthy Eating Standards (ENRICHES)
This study will develop and test an implementation intervention strategy to support child care providers in adopting stronger CACFP nutrition standards, which, if effective and feasible, may be a promising approach to leveraging this policy to maximize public health impact. We will collect novel, nuanced data on the interplay between home, neighborhood, and child care food environments and feeding strategies to understand how these may influence the strength of CACFP’s impact for young children, and work to find strategies that can help child care providers implement feasible nutrition policies that promote health.
To learn more about the grant for this study, please visit here
Study website to be released soon
Cost-Effectiveness of Commonly Used Interventions in Schools
This small research project is to study the cost-effectiveness of interventions and programs that are commonly used in school settings but may lack evidence for impact. Our team is also conducting a qualitative study to understand how we might de-implement programs that are not cost-effective. To learn more, visit here
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS:
Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study (CHOICES)
This project, led by Drs. Steven Gortmaker and Angie Cradock, uses statistical modeling to evaluate the impact of a range of policies and programs to prevent childhood obesity on population health. CHOICES also partners directly with state and local health departments to support evidence-based decision-making for public health planning. To learn more, visit here
Understanding the lost opportunity of the Child and Adult Care Food Program in improving child nutrition and reducing health inequities
This project, led by Dr. Tatiana Andreyeva at the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, is investigating how to improve uptake of CACFP and maximize its impact. To learn more, visit here
Understanding and Reducing ‘Churn’ among SNAP households with young children
This project, originally led by Dr. Sara Bleich, investigates whether there are socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in the risk of churning (i.e. temporarily losing benefits due to missed paperwork) in SNAP and evaluates different policy strategies for reducing churn. To learn more, visit here
Feeding Our Children: Comparing Pandemic-EBT and Grab and Go School Meals during COVID-19
In partnership with Dr. James Krieger at the University of Washington, we are exploring the cost-effectiveness and reach of two critical programs that were introduced to prevent increases in child food insecurity during COVID-related school closures. To learn more, visit here
PAST PROJECTS:
Urban School Food Infrastructure: Current Issues, Challenges, and Solutions
Examining State-Level Strategies to Implement Child Care Licensing Regulations on Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Screen time
Understanding the Impact of Changes to the Child and Adult Care Food Program on Food Expenditures, Food Quality, and Young Children’s Dietary Intake in Urban Family Child Care Homes. This project evaluated how changes to the CACFP meal pattern standards impacted children’s dietary quality in family child care homes
