Public Health Practice Group
The Center's Public Health Practice Group (PHPG) supports evidence-based approaches for environmental and policy change.
- Advance public health approaches to improve nutrition and physical activity through environmental and policy change
- Build partnerships and collaborations with practitioners, government agencies and communities
- Provide technical assistance in the translation of research into policy and practice
- Shape obesity and chronic disease prevention and reduction efforts
Faculty and staff collaborate with government agencies and community groups as they develop policies and programs to improve nutrition and physical activity. The group also evaluates outcomes associated with changing policies at the local, state, and federal levels. Our current portfolio of projects contributes to evidence-informed practice and policies with a scope ranging from individual families to federal nutrition programs.
New projects:
- Collaborative Research Partnership to Transform School Health. Donna Johnson was awarded a $1 million ARRA grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to build an infrastructure for research between UW and Seattle Public Schools. More>
- Donna Johnson announced the debut of the website for the UCLA Partners in Excellence for Leadership in Maternal Childhood Health (MCH) Nutrition Education. Johnson is one of four university Partners providing at least four traineeships for individuals pursuing a nutrition graduate degree at one of the Partner institutions. More>
- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has funded an evaluation of the impact of calorie labeling on student food selection in Northshore School District high schools.
- Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) funding supports a partnership with Treeswing and Public Health Seattle & King County to provide technical assistance and training to King County School Districts seeking to develop and implement school nutrition and physical education standards and policies.
Examples of other current projects:
Families
- Unplugged and Media Savvy: Working with families to set rules at home to reduce the negative impact of entertainment screen-time on food choice
Child Care & Early Childhood
- Cost & Quality: Measuring the association between food costs and the quality of food in child care; Measuring the impact of increased funding for food in child care
- Washington Active Bodies Active Minds: Develop and test screen time interventions in early childhood settings -
- Child Care and Obesity: Briefing papers built on results of Child Care & Obesity Summit
Schools
- Policy Legislation and Nutrition: Measuring the association between school nutrition and physical activity policies, school environments and student behaviors
- Impacting the School Nutrition Environment Through Policy: An action guide as part of a CDC series to support community public health practitioners
Communities
- Evaluating Community-based Policy and Environmental Interventions throughout Washington State
- Community Partnerships to Promote Fruit and Vegetables in WIC families: Funding and evaluating 10 local partnerships between food systems groups and WIC
Policies & Environments
- New: Evaluating American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Standards & Recommendations: A partnership with the Coalition for Safety and Health in Early Learning (CSHEL) supported by Communities Putting Prevention to Work will cross-walk AAP standards for nutrition, physical activity and screen time in child care settings with Washington State regulations
- Partners in Action: Supporting implementation and evaluating the Impact of the Washington State Nutrition & Physical Activity Plan
- Opportunities to Increase Access to Healthy Foods: An environmental scan and report for WA Access to Healthy Foods Coalition
- Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network: National and State networks to study policy development, enactment and implementation
For more information:
Collaborative Research Partnership to Transform School Health (website)
Public Health Practice Group Portfolio, 2012 (pdf)
Contact:
Donna Johnson, PhD, RD
Associate Director, Center for Public Health Nutrition
Selected Publications:
- Podrabsky M, Streichert LC, Levinger D, Johnson DB. Campus-community-school partnerships to evaluate a multicomponent nutrition intervention. Public Health Rep. 2007 Jul-Aug;122(4):566-9.
- Johnson DB, Smith LT, Bruemmer B. Small-grants programs: lessons from community-based approaches to changing nutrition environments. J Am Diet Assoc. 2007 Feb;107(2):301-5.
- Johnson DB, Smith LT. Testing the recommendations of the Washington State Nutrition and Physical Activity Plan: The Moses Lake case study. Prev Chronic Dis [serial online] 2006 Apr.
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