Conducting a large-scale surveillance of public school environments to advance wellness-related practices, with a focus on rural schools

The Foundation's program, Healthy Eating Research: Building Evidence to Prevent Childhood Obesity, was designed to support and disseminate investigator-initiated and commissioned research to identify effective policy and environmental strategies to ensure that children in the United States are at a healthy weight by 2025, especially in populations and communities at greatest risk.Rural disparities in health behaviors and weight status jeopardize the well-being of millions of Americans. Compared to urban children, rural children have higher rates of obesity and consume more calories, less fruit, and fewer vegetables. A health-promoting school environment can modify risk behaviors, and periodic assessment of school environments provides crucial information about opportunities for improvement, but national surveillance options are limited. There is also a need to gather nuanced information about the factors that support or limit implementation of systems changes at rural schools. The Food and Fitness survey; part of the RWJF-funded Bridging the Gap Research Program; surveyed a nationally representative sample of 640 public elementary schools in 2013-14. This project will re-survey schools to examine changes between 2013-14 and 2019-20, with a sample large enough to examine disparities.