Improving Nutrition in Afterschool Programs

About this grant

This grant will continue to support the Food Research and Action Center to improve and expand nutrition supports in afterschool programs for school-age children. This work will help improve children’s nutrition, health, learning ability, and general well-being, while simultaneously strengthening afterschool programs. This initiative focuses on six key areas: 1) increasing access to the afterschool and summer nutrition programs; 2) developing a guide for connecting school-day and afterschool nutrition programs; 3) explaining the effects of food insecurity, poor nutrition, and obesity on mental health; 4) examining the impact of special dietary needs on food policy; 5) honoring high quality afterschool programs, which have effectively implemented strong nutrition efforts; and 6) developing a media toolkit focused on obesity and hunger and its impact on low-income children and families.