FEBRUARY NEWS
PINARD NAMED SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST
Congratulations to Courtney Pinard, Ph.D., on her recent promotion to senior research scientist. Pinard has been with the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition as a research scientist since September 2010. Her research focuses on public health outcomes of policies, programs and practices that impact nutrition and diet, including assessment of public health impacts of local and national efforts that affect food access, food security, obesity and related health disparities. Pinard is particularly interested in rural food access and how regional food systems can strengthen community food security in more remote and low-income areas.
Early on, she knew she wanted to help people be as healthy as possible, which started as an interest in medicine. When she realized that she could impact people’s health on a larger scale through a public health approach and could research policy, environment and individual level approaches to address obesity and food insecurity, she became interested in pursuing a public health research career.
A native of Langley, British Columbia, Canada, Pinard grew up surrounded by various agricultural industries. She notes a lot of research, funding and publicity addresses issues of food access in urban areas, but she’s always wondered what is happening in our rural communities. Because the Center is located in an urban area (Omaha, Neb.) that is surrounded by rural areas and agricultural history and traditions, she believes her work at the Center provides a unique opportunity to better understand how U.S. food systems can better feed communities.
Pinard completed her doctorate degree in human nutrition, foods and exercise from Virginia Tech in 2010. She earned her master’s degree in sport and exercise psychology from University of Windsor in 2007, and her honours bachelor’s degree in health science with a minor in psychology from McMaster University in 2005.
She also holds a Special Dean’s Appointment in the Department of Health Promotion, Social and Behavioral Health in the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, an Affiliate Membership with the Eppley Cancer Center, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor position in the Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is a member of the Society of Behavioral Medicine and International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
Pinard is proud of the Center’s connection and collaboration with partners across the state, and efforts to understand the food system in Nebraska. Her future goals include expanding the Center’s work, both in Nebraska and nationally, extending knowledge gained thus far to impact the health of communities who need it most.
A city girl at heart, Pinard lives a country life at home. A garden and free-range chickens “feed” her culinary adventures. She loves to cook at home for family and friends, and continues to live an active, healthy lifestyle.
See Pinard’s CV here.
DENVER GUESTS VISIT CENTER
In late January, Mondi Mason and Lindsay Saperstone of Denver’s Department of Environmental Health visited the Center and some of our Lincoln and Omaha-area partners. The purpose of their trip was to discuss their evidence-based healthy corner store programs and food access/food security policy and program efforts occurring in Denver, and how similar work being conducted in Nebraska could be applied.
Corner Store Program Administrator Lindsay Saperstone works directly with store operators and community partners to implement department strategies. She has five years of community health and economic development experience both in the U.S. and in Latin America. Her graduate studies focused on social and sustainable entrepreneurship.
Mondi Mason, policy program administrator, works on food system policy issues. Her training is in health and behavioral sciences, and she has more than 20 years of experience developing, implementing and evaluating community-based initiatives and conducting participatory research.
Pictured above are (L to R) Center Executive Director Amy Yaroch, Center Associate Director Leah Carpenter, Saperstone and Mason.
NEW STAFF MEMBERS JOIN CENTER
January brought two new faces to the Center – Marketing Associate Amanda Schneider and Adjunct Research Scientist Jennie Hill.
Amanda Schneider is a Deweese, Neb., native and graduate of the University of Nebraska-Kearney. She received her bachelor’s degree in advertising/public relations with a minor in marketing/management. Schneider's most recent marketing experience includes helping to launch an Omaha start-up. She brings to the Center a passion for communication and design with a strong desire to promote health and nutrition. She will be responsible for design and copywriting on many Center promotional materials and reports, media relations, website content management, social media, newsletter writing, brand execution and development-related tasks. Her hobbies include cooking/baking, photography, painting, working out and spending time with her husband, Gavin.
Jennie Hill grew up in Brule, Neb., and has a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from the University of Nebraska-Kearney, a master’s degree in kinesiology from Kansas State University and a Ph.D. in health and behavioral sciences from the University of Colorado Denver. For the last several years, she has been at Virginia Tech University in the Department of Human Nutrition Foods and Exercise. In addition to her new work here at the Center, she has a faculty appointment in the Department of Epidemiology in the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Her research focuses on the influence of built environments and social factors on physical activity, nutrition and obesity. Her previous research has used community-based participatory approaches to engage communities and residents in projects on physical activity, community gardening, assessment of the built environment, food environment and pediatric obesity treatment. Her work focuses on health disparate populations including under-served rural communities.
Jennie's hobbies include running, cycling, hiking, skiing, traveling and spending time with her family.
NEW PROJECT IN OHIO ANNOUNCED
Through a partnership with the General Mills Foundation, Nemours is joining forces with the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association (OCCRRA) to pilot an innovative early care and education (ECE) intervention that educates not only child care providers on childhood obesity prevention, but also parents of the children attending their programs. OCCRRA will recruit ECE programs throughout Ohio to participate in its Healthy Children Healthy Weights program, which will be followed up by implementation of an existing parenting intervention.
The parenting intervention curriculum is comprised of 12 guides that focus on different health and safety topics. Parents are encouraged to set goals with their children to improve health practices at home.
Later this year, the Center will begin a process evaluation of OCCRRA’s efforts. Center staff assisted Nemours and OCCRRA in the selection of the parenting intervention for the evaluation, and will be developing and conducting surveys and interviews with child care providers and parents to discuss both interventions. The intervention will be implemented April through August, and the project will conclude in October.
This approach is innovative in the ECE sector as it will evaluate the process of information dissemination and more directly reach parents regarding childhood obesity prevention, which is an emerging intervention concept.
NEW PROJECT:
EVALUATION OF PROMEDICA EBEID INSTITUTE
ProMedica Ebeid Institute is a full-service grocery store and community hub in the central city of Toledo, Ohio. It is located in the UpTown community, which has been labeled a food desert. Area residents now have access to a full-service grocery market, Market on the Green, which offers fresh meat, produce, dairy products, locally baked goods, frozen foods and other personal necessities. Many products offered at the market are locally sourced.
The vision of the Institute is to create a community hub where community services and programs are provided. In addition to the grocery market, a second floor to be completed in 2016 will include kitchen space for cooking and nutrition classes. Additional space will eventually be used for programs including financial literacy, health screenings, job training and other educational workshops.
The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition has partnered with ProMedica and the University of Toledo to evaluate the Ebeid Institute impact on the UpTown community. This three-year project will specifically focus on the areas of healthful food access, employment opportunities and economic development.
During Year 1 of this longitudinal impact evaluation, Center staff members will create a survey instrument to assess knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of community members, particularly looking at how they relate to nutrition and economic outcomes. A longitudinal process evaluation follows the people over an extended period of time, and therefore, survey data for this evaluation will be collected from the same group in Years 2 and 3.
The Center team will train University of Toledo data collectors from the Department of Health and Recreation Professions on iPad data collection and proper interviewing techniques using the survey and interview guides created by the Center. Training will focus on recruitment, intercept-style survey data collection (iPads and paper), semi-structured interviews and receipt collection protocol. Data will be collected by the University of Toledo team from March through July of this year. Following data analysis by Center staff, a baseline characteristics report and peer-reviewed journal script will be delivered at the conclusion of Year 1.
TRAVEL/MEETINGS
On February 11 and 12, Executive Director Amy Yaroch will be traveling to Washington D.C. for the Healthy Kids, Healthy Future 2016 Summit. This Summit will bring together policy makers, state program leaders, advocates and thought leaders in child health promotion, obesity prevention and early care and education (ECE) to celebrate successes, identify opportunities, and identify next steps to ensure that all children in early care and education settings grow up healthy.
February 22 through 24, Yaroch, Eisele Postdoctoral Fellow Eric Calloway and Project Manager Katie Stern travel to Toledo, Ohio, to conduct a kick-off meeting and data collection training at the University of Toledo as part of the ProMedica grocery store project mentioned above.
Project Manager Hollyanne Fricke will be attending the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., from February 28 through March 1. The conference, co-sponsored by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) and Feeding America, brings together anti-hunger and anti-poverty advocates; federal, state and local government officials; child advocates; representatives of food banks and food rescue organizations; sponsoring organizations; and nutrition and anti-obesity groups for training, networking and advocacy.
PUBLICATIONS
Fricke, Hollyanne E., Eric E. Calloway, Teresa M. Smith, Courtney A. Pinard, and Amy Yaroch. “Food Security, Hunger-Coping, and Hunger-Symptoms, and Their Relationship With Daily Fruit and Vegetable Intake Frequency in a Low-Income Sample.” Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk 6, no. 2 (2016): 13.
Moore, Latetia V., Courtney A. Pinard, and Amy L. Yaroch. “Features in Grocery Stores That Motivate Shoppers to Buy Healthier Foods, ConsumerStyles 2014.” Journal of Community Health, January 30, 2016. doi:10.1007/s10900-016-0158-x.
The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition aids in survey development and evaluation for national organizations and others. If you are interested in finding out more about these services, please contact Dr. Amy Yaroch, executive director, at ayaroch@centerfornutrition.org.
