Work

An initiative designed to develop healthy habits related to healthy foods, drinks, and physical activity through sustainable policy and environmental strategies during out of school time programs.

Visit OSNAP.org to learn more.

OSNAP Effectiveness Trial
Principal Investigator: Steven Gortmaker, PhD
Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Funding Dates: 2009 – 2015

OSNAP Dissemination Study
Principal Investigator: Rebekka Lee, ScD
Funder: National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
Funding Dates: 2016 – 2018

Food and Fun After School (© President and Fellows of Harvard College and YMCA of the USA) is a curriculum designed to develop healthy habits out of school time. Eleven teaching units help programs infuse healthy snacks and recipes, physically active games, and creative learning activities into regular program schedules.

Visit the Food and Fun After School page to learn more.

Funders: Food and Fun After School was developed under a gift from Paul and Mary Finnegan. The second edition was revised under a gift from the Donald and Sue Pritzker Nutrition and Fitness Initiative.

Planet Health is an interdisciplinary curriculum focused on improving the health and well-being of sixth through eighth grade students while building and reinforcing skills in language arts, math, science, social studies, and physical education.

Principal Investigator: Steven Gortmaker, PhD
Funders: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; University Gift
Funding Dates: 1995–1999; 1999–2003; 2003–2007

Download the full second edition of Planet Health as a PDF.

Books & Lessons:
-Carter J, Wiecha JL, Peterson KE, Nobrega S, Gortmaker SL. Planet Health: An Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Teaching Middle School Nutrition and Physical Activity (Second Edition). Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics; 2007.
-Carter J, Wiecha JL, Peterson KE, Nobrega S, Gortmaker SL. Lesson 19: Pass the Sugar. In: Planet Health: An Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Teaching Middle School Nutrition and Physical Activity (Second Edition). Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics; 2007.
-Carter J, Wiecha J, Peterson K, Gortmaker S. Planet Health: An Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Teaching Middle School Nutrition and Physical Activity. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 2001.

Eat Well & Keep Moving is a school-based program that equips children with the knowledge, skills, and supportive environment they need in order to lead healthier lives by choosing nutritious diets and being physically active. The program is designed for fourth and fifth grade students. Its six interlinked components—classroom education, physical education, school-wide promotional campaigns, food service, staff wellness, and parent and community involvement—work together to create a supportive environment that promotes the lifelong learning of good habits.

Full Website: https://us.humankinetics.com/blogs/ewkm
Principal Investigators: Lilian Cheung, ScD and Steven Gortmaker, PhD
Funder: Department of Education-PEP Grant; Walton Foundation
Funding Dates: 1993-1997; 1999; 2016

Books:
-Cheung LWY, Dart H, Kalin S, Otis B, Gortmaker SL. Eat Well & Keep Moving: An Interdisciplinary Elementary Curriculum Nutrition and Physical Activity (Third Edition). Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, 2016.
-Cheung LWY, Dart H, Kalin SR, Gortmaker SL. Eat Well & Keep Moving: An Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Teaching Upper Elementary School Nutrition and Physical Activity (Second Edition). Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, 2007.
-Cheung LWY, Gortmaker SL, Dart H. Eat Well & Keep Moving: An Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Teaching Upper Elementary School Nutrition and Physical Activity. Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, 2001.
-Cheung LWY, Jukes, M. Be Healthy! It’s A Girl Thing: Food, Fitness, and Feeling Great. Crown Publishers, NY, 2003.

The goal of this project was to develop a microsimulation model to project the 10 year and longer-term national impact of six widely studied and effective interventions that promote improved nutrition and prevent childhood obesity. Model developments focused on evaluating cases of obesity prevented, mortality and chronic disease outcomes, cost-effectiveness metrics, and health equity metrics by race, ethnicity, and income. This study has contributed to the growing body of evidence for cost-effective and, at times, cost-saving, population-level strategies that can prevent obesity while also advancing health equity. This work built off of the CHOICES Project.

Principal Investigator: Steven Gortmaker, PhD
Funder: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Funding dates: 2019-2024

Perspective Piece:
-Gortmaker SL, Bleich SN, Williams DR. Childhood Obesity Prevention — Focusing on Population-Level Interventions and Equity. NEJM. 2024 Feb. doi:10.1056/NEJMp2313666.

Case study briefs from this study highlight state and local programs and policies for home water quality testing, home well water treatment device installation, filter pitcher distribution, and lead service line replacement. Partnering with organizations with established relationships with families vulnerable to unsafe drinking water like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children was a key program activity.

The lessons learned from these policies and programs can inform equity-based efforts to improve water security with a focus on young children in households experiencing low incomes.

This work was supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (#76333) and in part by funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48-DP006376). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of any funding agency. 

Principal Investigator: Angie Cradock, ScD, MPE
Funder: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (#76333) and in part by funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48-DP006376)

Research Briefs:
–Executive Summary & all six case study briefs (combined)

Individual files: 
–Safe Home Drinking Water: A Series of Six Case Study Briefs – Executive Summary 
–New Jersey Private Well Testing Act
–New Hampshire & Vermont Private Well Testing Via Primary Care Clinics 
–The NH Water Well-Ness Initiative to Protect Pregnant WIC Participants from Contaminants in Private Well Water 
–Porterville, CA: Point-of-Use Filtration & Bottled Water Delivery Pilot Program to Protect Pregnant People and Infants from Nitrates in Private Well Water 
–Cincinnati Enhanced Lead Program to Replace Lead Service Lines 
–Denver Water Filter Program 

This study, funded by the Physical Activity Research Center, used data from the U.S. Census and the American Community Survey to look at how people ages 16 and older got to and from work over time between 2000 and 2016 in counties with populations of at least 100,000 people.

The findings in this research summary are based on the results of a project commissioned by the Physical Activity Research Center (PARC) focused on addressing research gaps related to policies aimed at helping children achieve a healthy weight.

Principal Investigator: Angie Cradock, ScD, MPE
Funder: Physical Activity Research Center (PARC)

Research Brief & Report:
–Research brief summary: Evidence to Inform a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy 
–Full research report: Evidence to Inform a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy 

This project conducted statistical analysis of water lead content data from state-based testing programs overall and by school social and demographic characteristics. Researchers documented features of state school water quality testing programs and compared their methodologies to standard health surveillance element.

The report was funded by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Principal Investigator: Angie Cradock, ScD, MPE
Funder: Healthy Eating Research (HER), a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Funding Dates: January 1, 2018 – June 30, 2018

Research Briefs & Reports:
–Full research report: Early Adopters: State Approaches to Testing School Drinking Water for Lead in the United States 
–Healthy Eating Research Brief: Early Adopters: State Approaches to Testing School Drinking Water for Lead in the United States 
–Download reports for 25 states 

This project was a CDC-funded initiative of the Boston Public Health Commission, and aimed to support implementation of evidence-based strategies to improve the health of communities and reduce the prevalence of chronic disease.

Learn more about the Health Community Champion supported by the Boston Alliance for Community Health here: http://bostonalliance.org/lets-get-healthy-boston/healthy-community-champions

Principal Investigator: Anne McHugh (Boston Public Health Commission)
Key Faculty: Steven Gortmaker, PhD
Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Funding Dates: 2014-2017

This project was a CDC-funded initiative of the Boston Public Health Commission, and aimed to develop and implement replicable and scalable strategies that assure population-wide policy, systems, and environmental improvements to reduce obesity and hypertension, and decrease health disparities.

Principal Investigator: Anne McHugh (Boston Public Health Commission)
Key Faculty: Steven Gortmaker, PhD and Walter Willett, MD, MPH, DrPH (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)
Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Funding Dates: 2012-2015

The Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative (MYOC) was a joint initiative of the Maine–Harvard Prevention Research Center and the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) aimed at improving care and outcomes for overweight and obese youth. MYOC applies community based research principles in developing materials for parents and clinical care providers around reducing television viewing and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables. MYOC has reached an agreement with the National AAP to market and promote internationally the Pediatric Obesity Clinical Decision Support Chart.

Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Reports & Resources:
–Final Evaluation Report for Pilot, 2004–2006
–Final Evaluation Report for MYOC2, 2006–2008
–Final Evaluation Report for MYOC3, 2008–2009
–Download all MYOC resources