Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2014 Aug;84(8):543-8.
doi: 10.1111/josh.12175.

Community partnership to address snack quality and cost in after-school programs

Michael W Beets  1 , Falon Tilley, Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy, Robert G Weaver, Sonya Jones
Affiliations
Observational Study

Community partnership to address snack quality and cost in after-school programs

Michael W Beets et al. J Sch Health. 2014 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Policies call on after-school programs (ASPs) to serve more nutritious snacks. A major barrier for improving snack quality is cost. This study describes the impact on snack quality and expenditures from a community partnership between ASPs and local grocery stores.

Methods: Four large-scale ASPs (serving ˜500 children, aged 6-12 years, each day) and a single local grocery store chain participated in this study. The nutritional quality of snacks served was recorded preintervention (18 weeks spring/fall 2011) and postintervention (7 weeks spring 2012) via direct observation, along with cost/child/snack/day.

Results: Preintervention snacks were low-nutrient-density salty snacks (eg, chips, 3.0 servings/week), sugar-sweetened beverages (eg, powdered-lemonade, 1.9 servings/week), and desserts (eg, cookies, 2.1 servings/week), with only 0.4 servings/week of fruits and no vegetables. By postintervention, fruits (3.5 servings/week) and vegetables (1.2 servings/week) were increased, whereas sugar-sweetened beverages and desserts were eliminated. Snack expenditures were $0.26 versus $0.24 from preintervention to postintervention. Partnership savings versus purchasing snacks at full retail cost was 24.5% or $0.25/serving versus $0.34/serving.

Conclusions: This innovative partnership can serve as a model in communities where ASPs seek to identify low-cost alternatives to providing nutritious snacks.

Keywords: children; community-based programs; cost-effectiveness; nutrition; school.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Beets MW. Enhancing the translation of physical activity interventions in afterschool programs. Am Journal Lifestyle Med. 2012;6(4):328–341.
    1. America After 3 PM. [Accessed March 2, 2009];America After 3 PM: A Household Survey on Afterschool in America. 2009 Available at: http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/publications.cfm.
    1. Beets MW, Tilley F, Kim Y, Webster C. Nutritional policies and standards for snacks served in after-school programmes: a review. Public Health Nutr. 2011:1–9. - PubMed
    1. Cassady D, Vogt R, Oto-Kent D, Mosley R, Lincoln R. The power of policy: a case study of healthy eating among children. Am J Public Health. 2006;96(9):1570–1571. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Coleman KJ, Geller KS, Rosenkranz RR, Dzewaltowski DA. Physical activity and healthy eating in the after-school environment. J Sch Health. 2008;78(12):633–640. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources