Seeking Postdoctoral Fellow
The Center is currently seeking applications for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biostatistics to support the design and evaluation of public health nutrition related work. This position is funded by the Eisele Family Foundation. Applicants must have graduated by January 2017 with a doctoral degree (PhD, ScD or equivalent) in biostatistics, epidemiology, public health or a related discipline. Preference will go to applicants with a biostatistics and/or epidemiological background, and those who have experience in designing analytic plans, data analysis and interpretation, and contributing to report and manuscript writing. To apply or see the full job description, visit: http://centerfornutrition.org/who-we-are/employment/.
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Partner Feature: Holly Dingman
Operations Manager, Children's Hospital & Medical Center's new Center for the Child & Community
Holly Dingman majored in chemistry at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., earned her master’s degree in human nutrition from Colorado State University, and became a registered dietitian through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Dietetics Program. After working as the chronic disease nutrition coordinator at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for 12 years, she joined Children’s Hospital & Medical Center as operations manager at its new Center for the Child & Community based in Lincoln.
Personally, Dingman has been a group fitness instructor for nearly 20 years, currently teaching early morning spin classes at Cooper YMCA. She and her husband, Harry Dingman III, have three children - Sonja (10), Alice (6) and Jay (3) – along with a border collie named Jenny Louise and a dutch rabbit named Hide’N (as in Hide’N Seek).
GSCN: When did you first begin working with GSCN, and in what capacity?
Dingman: I first started working with GSCN when Amy Yaroch first moved to Omaha and took the executive director position at GSCN. She and Research Scientist Courtney Pinard joined our Statewide Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (NPAO) Advisory Work Group hosted by DHHS to update the 2011-2016 Nebraska NPAO State Plan. Since then, I realized what a wealth of expertise was held within the GSCN team, and I have worked with the team on a number of projects: professional lactation support survey, healthy hospital policy and practice assessment, training and technical assistance to local public health departments across the state, working on a variety of nutrition interventions and many others!
GSCN: Tell us about the Children’s Center for the Child & Community and your current priorities.
Dingman: Children’s Center for the Child & Community launch in March of 2016 with the aim to build a statewide prevention initiative focused on children’s health. The Center's vision is that every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential and the mission is to empower communities to value and support the health, safety and well-being of every child.
The Center is working in Lincoln and Omaha currently, but plans to help support other communities across the region to also value and improve the health of children. Our current priorities include building a continuum of care for childhood obesity prevention and treatment, adding health priorities and partners further into early childhood development efforts, and helping communities prioritize children’s health through the community health needs assessment, prioritization and planning process.
GSCN: How does your work benefit from GSCN staff members’ involvement/expertise?
Dingman: GSCN staff members not only have incredible expertise on key national food issues, but they are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work. They meet deadlines, communicate very effectively, listen, actively contribute, and always deliver. Working with the GSCN team adds to the strength of our team. When we utilize their expertise and bring our own expertise to the table, the work we complete is much more than it would have been if we worked independently.
GSCN: What led to your interest in public health? And now, specifically children’s health?
Dingman: Ever since I was a little girl, I loved science. I was determined to become a doctor. However, over the course of my schooling, my mom was diagnosed with recurrent breast cancer and her experience with treatment turned me away from a traditional health care path. I was so disappointed with the lack of nutrition and lifestyle therapy she received, I decided to pursue a master’s in nutritional biochemistry and become a registered dietitian. During my community rotation at Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, I found my love for public health. I attended a planning session hosted by June Ryan, manager for the State's Cancer Prevention and Control Program, and said, "I want to do that work!" Shortly after, a position came up for the state's first chronic disease prevention nutrition coordinator to work with the state cancer, diabetes and heart disease and stroke programs. I happily held that position for 12 years and learned a ton about partnerships, grants and policy, and system and environmental change strategies. When the position with Children's opened, I immediately knew that this would be my dream job. I could use my skills and focus them on the most precious target audience, our children. To help build a population health platform focused on children, and to share that platform across the state, is a humbling and thrilling charge. Children are born with a lifetime of promise and potential. It’s up to all of us around each child – across all sectors of our communities – to make sure we pave the healthiest, safest and most loving way for our next generation.
GSCN: How do you see GSCN contributing to the Children’s Center for the Child & Community’s mission?
Dingman: The focus areas of GSCN (food insecurity, obesity prevention and research/evaluation infrastructure) not only align with the needs of the Center but will be key collaborative areas for GSCN and the Center to continue to develop a partnership. And we couldn’t be more thankful that GSCN has its home in Omaha!
GSCN: What role do you see GSCN playing in Nebraska’s statewide health initiatives in general?
Dingman: GSCN is leading key evaluation efforts for a number of exciting national collaboratives that align with our work at the Center. We will continue to rely on GSCN for research and evaluation guidance, expertise to guide the development of the Center’s impact plan and help drive evidence-based programs across Nebraska.
GSCN: What food philosophies or rituals have you instilled in your life?
Dingman: My general philosophy on food is to enjoy it! Life is too short to miss the opportunity to enjoy a good meal. Go local, be adventurous, be thankful, and always share it in good company. And never say no to dark chocolate!
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Services Feature: Secondary Data Analysis
Secondary data analysis uses existing data that was collected for the purposes of a prior study, but to pursue a new research question or area of interest. Data from public sources is typically free to use for a variety of research questions within the prevue of the use agreement, while some data is proprietary to the organization which collected it originally.
PARTNERS: Eastern Market Corporation and JFM Consulting Group, both based in Detroit, Mich.
PROJECT: Evaluation of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation and trends in the City of Detroit as well as a six-state region for the past ten years
SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE CENTER: secondary data analysis and market manager interviews
SERVICES PROVIDED BY JFM CONSULTING GROUP: interviews and surveys at Michigan markets
Eastern Market Corporation is a nonprofit corporation based in Detroit, Mich., that manages Detroit’s public market along with managing operations, developing programs, building facilities and providing infrastructure for the Eastern Market District. This evaluation project seeks to explore participation and trends in the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at the market, throughout Michigan, and in the five other states included in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Midwest Food and Nutrition Service Region – Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
Eastern Market began accepting SNAP in 2007, and then began participation in Fair Food Network’s Double Up Food Bucks, a program that doubles the value of SNAP benefits spent at participating locations, at its farmers market in 2009.
The Double Up program began at five farmers markets in Detroit in 2009 and has since grown to more than 150 sites across Michigan and has become a model for communities nationwide. Double Up also expanded to grocery stores in 2013 in one of the first pilots in the nation. In five years, it has benefited more than 300,000 low-income families and 1,000 farmers.
Historically, Eastern Market’s SNAP transactions were steadily increasing, then they saw a sharp decline following 2012. While investigating the reason this was happening, it was discovered that other Michigan markets may also be experiencing the same trend. As a result, the Center’s evaluation is addressing two research questions:
- What are the trends in Double Up program participation and redemption over time, within the context of SNAP participation and other factors?
- Why are SNAP sales decreasing at EMC and other Michigan farmers markets? Is this a trend happening in other parts of the FNS Midwest region, or an incident specific to the state or specific areas in the state?
In addition to conducting interviews with farmers market managers and reviewing Eastern Market’s managerial sales and redemption figures, Center research staff members are using American Community Survey (ACS) demographic data and Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) SNAP participation data to identify SNAP and Double Up interrelated redemption trends through secondary data analysis.
The American Community Survey is an ongoing survey that provides vital information on a yearly basis about our nation and its people – information about jobs and occupations, educational attainment, veterans, whether people own or rent their home, and other topics. The Food and Nutrition Service provides program data on SNAP, child nutrition, food distribution and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.
Graduate Research Assistant Casey Blaser used SAS (statistical analysis system) software and other analysis platforms to examine overall trends within the Double Up program and to identify potential driving factors of the apparent changes based upon the integrated ACS, FNS and Eastern Market dataset.
What has been discovered thus far is that redemption decreases at Eastern Market are a reflection of overall SNAP participation decreases. However, the percentage of redemptions occurring through the Double Up program has increased significantly. After considering the differences stemming from SNAP participation fluctuations, the percentage of redemptions attributable to Double Up has increased by an estimated 8% to 12% per year from 2010 to 2015.
Results of this evaluation will be compiled this month and presented with recommendations for future program implementation to improve SNAP accessibility and participation specifically at Eastern Market as well as inform efforts at farmers markets across the state.
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1422 Year 2 Evaluation Wraps Up
Healthy food access means having a wide variety of food options at a reasonable cost. And the term “healthy foods” includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy. Concurrently, it is important to reduce access to energy dense, nutrient-poor foods and drinks, such as junk foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, to help lead consumers to a reduced intake of saturated fats, sodium, added sugars and excess calories.
The Nebraska State and Local Public Health Actions to Prevent Obesity, Diabetes, and Heart Disease and Stroke grant, more commonly referred to as 1422, is in its third year of a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS) with funding provided to the Center for evaluation.
The Center was tasked in the first year to assess current employee vending machine and cafeteria use and attitudes in order to contribute to a baseline assessment of nutrition and beverage standards in hospitals and public institutions across the state of Nebraska. In the second year, the Center provided ongoing maintenance and evaluation with regard to various aspects of implementing nutrition standards in hospitals and public institutions and healthy food retail. As an example of the work accomplished this past year, the Center team has presented webinars to local public health departments on strategies for reducing sodium in entrees, side dishes, grab-and-go items, salad bars, catering and vending.
Research Scientist Teresa Smith, Project Manager Catherine Plumlee, Research Associate Tom Barnard and Graduate Research Assistant Alethea Chiappone will be working on the third year of this project, which will begin by early January, and will continue through September 2017.
Five additional contracts for evaluation and technical assistance have been established with local public health departments as a result of the Center’s involvement in the state-level 1422 grant. Evaluation of the healthy food retail work is expanding into non-1422 communities as part of a separate partnership with the NDHHS, which the Center started in August.
Support for this project is provided by Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services, Chronic Disease Prevention & Control Program: 1U58DP005493-01.
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Voices for Healthy Kids All-Grantee Meeting
Associate Director Leah Carpenter and Project Manager Hollyanne Fricke will attend the Voices for Healthy Kids (VFHK) all-grantee meeting in Minneapolis December 6 through 8 to conduct interviews with American Heart Association and VFHK staff to inform the Year 3 evaluation on lessons learned.
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Behavioral Economics and Health Symposium
Executive Director Amy Yaroch and Senior Research Scientist Courtney Pinard will attend the Annual UPENN LDI Center for Health Incentives and Behavior Economics (CHIBE) Behavioral Economics and Health Symposium hosted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on December 8 and 9 in Philadelphia.
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