College of Education, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA.
Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Nutrients. 2021 Jan 9;13(1):193. doi: 10.3390/nu13010193.
US school districts participating in federal child nutrition programs are required to develop a local wellness policy (LWP). Each district is allowed flexibility in policy development, including the approaches used for policy reporting, monitoring, and evaluation (RME). The aim of this convergent mixed-methods study was to quantitatively examine RME provisions in policies among a nationally representative sample of districts in the 2014-2015 school year in order to examine whether policies were associated with RME practices in those districts, and to qualitatively examine perceived challenges to RME practices. Data were compiled through the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study and the National Wellness Policy Study. In multivariable regression models accounting for demographics, survey respondents were significantly more likely to report that their district had informed the public about LWP content and implementation, if there was a relevant policy provision in place. Having a strong policy (as compared to no policy) requiring evaluation was associated with reports that the district had indeed evaluated implementation. Having definitive/required provisions in policies was significantly associated with actual use of RME practices. RME activities are an important part of policy implementation, and these results show that policy provisions addressing RME activities must be written with strong language to require compliance. In interviews with 39 superintendents, many reported that RME activities are challenging, including difficulty determining how to monitor and show impact of their district's wellness initiatives. Furthermore, the qualitative results highlighted the need for vetted tools that are freely available, widely used, and feasible for districts to use in assessing their progress toward meeting the goals in their LWPs.
美国参与联邦儿童营养计划的学区被要求制定当地健康政策（LWP）。每个地区在政策制定方面都有一定的灵活性，包括政策报告、监测和评估（RME）的方法。本收敛混合方法研究的目的是通过 2014-2015 学年全国代表性样本的地区政策，定量研究 RME 规定，以检验这些地区的政策是否与 RME 实践相关，并定性研究 RME 实践面临的挑战。数据是通过学校营养和膳食成本研究以及国家健康政策研究收集的。在多变量回归模型中考虑了人口统计学因素，调查受访者更有可能报告说，如果他们所在的地区有相关的政策规定，他们已经向公众宣传了 LWP 的内容和实施情况。如果有一项强有力的政策（与没有政策相比）要求进行评估，那么与报告说该地区确实已经对实施情况进行了评估有关。政策中具有明确/必需的规定与实际使用 RME 实践显著相关。RME 活动是政策实施的重要组成部分，这些结果表明，必须以强有力的语言来制定解决 RME 活动的政策规定，以确保其得到遵守。在对 39 位总监的访谈中，许多人报告说 RME 活动具有挑战性，包括难以确定如何监测和展示他们所在地区健康倡议的影响。此外，定性结果强调需要经过审查的工具，这些工具免费提供、广泛使用，并且对于地区来说在评估实现 LWP 目标方面的进展是可行的。
