Topic: Healthy Eating

The information in this resource is intended only to provide educational information. This profile describes the estimated benefits, activities, resources, and leadership needed to implement a strategy to improve child health. This information can be useful for planning and prioritization purposes.

• Policy adopted by afterschool programs to ensure that the snacks and beverages served to children in grades K-8 attending afterschool programs meet federal nutritional guidelines for afterschool snacks.

What population benefits?

Children ages 5-14 attending afterschool programs that participate in the National School Lunch Program or the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

What are the estimated benefits?

Relative to not implementing the strategy
Improve the nutritional quality of children’s snack and beverage offerings and, in turn, promote healthy child weight.

What are the additional benefits?

Relative to not implementing the strategy
The costs of implementing this strategy could be offset by savings from…
↓ Decrease in snack and beverage costs for families

What activities and resources are needed?

Strategy Modification

This strategy could be implemented using an in-person train-the-trainer model, where training coordinators train and provide technical assistance to afterschool program supervisors, who then train their staff. The strategy could also be modified to include monitoring activities, which would require time for a coordinator to conduct regular monitoring visits or develop survey questions for afterschool program staff to assess compliance. Some state and local health agencies may choose to focus only on a healthy beverage policy that ensures that the only beverages available are those that meet the federal snack requirements, without setting requirements for foods.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Kenney EL, Austin SB, Cradock AL, et al. Identifying sources of children’s consumption of junk food in Boston after-school programs, April-May 2011. Prev Chronic Dis. 2014;11:E205. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd11.140301

Selected CHOICES research brief including cost-effectiveness metrics:
Pagnotta M, Hardy H, Burry K, Flax CN, Barrett JL, Cradock AL. Allegheny County: Supporting Healthy Food and Beverage Choices in Afterschool Programs {Issue Brief}. Allegheny County Health Department, Pittsburgh, PA, and the CHOICES Learning Collaborative Partnership at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; November 2019. Available at: https://choicesproject.org/publications/brief-healthysnacks-afterschool-allegheny-pa

Salas TM, Meinen A, Kim H, McCulloch S, Reiner J, Barrett J, Cradock AL. Wisconsin: Supporting Healthy Beverage Choices in Out-of-School Time Programs {Issue Brief}. Wisconsin Department of Health Services & University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, and the CHOICES Learning Collaborative Partnership at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; May 2021. Available at: https://choicesproject.org/publications/brief-healthy-beverage-policy-wisconsin

• Browse more CHOICES research briefs & reports in the CHOICES Resource Library.

Suggested Citation

CHOICES Strategy Profile: Policy to Promote Healthy Snacks and Beverages in Afterschool Programs (Healthy Snacks). CHOICES Project Team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; September 2024.

Funding

This work is supported by The JPB Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48DP006376). The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose. The findings and conclusions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other funders.

Adapted from the TIDieR (Template for Intervention Description and Replication) Checklist

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