Measuring policy, system, and environment changes for healthy eating, physical activity, and obesity prevention in California SNAP-Ed

For the first time in 2014, local health departments (LHDs) in California used policy, system and environmental (PSE) strategies to prevent obesity with funding from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed). LHDs included PSE strategies as part of comprehensive nutrition education and obesity prevention approaches in low-income communities. At the California Department of Public Health, 12 priority PSE strategies were identified and core evaluation indicators, which were aligned with indicators in the USDA SNAP-Ed Western Region Evaluation Framework, were defined using the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance) framework. The evaluation data were aggregated across 47 LHDs for each of the 12 PSE strategies. The most frequently reported PSE strategies were healthy retail (19 LHDs working in a total of 70 stores), community/school gardens (15 LHDs working in 65 gardens), and school wellness policies (11 LHDs working in 52 schools or districts). Across the PSE strategies, at the majority of sites, PSE work was integrated with at least two of the following: nutrition education, marketing, staff training, or community involvement. Other indicators included estimated total and SNAP-Ed reach, the number and types of partners and community members engaged in PSE work, and the specific types of environmental changes that were made at each site. Findings will be presented that demonstrate how using this evaluation and reporting approach allows for more comprehensive understanding and documentation of the impact of PSE interventions.