Project Activities
Structured Abstract
Setting
Sample
Research design and methods
Control condition
Key measures
Data analytic strategy
Key outcomes
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Select Publications:
Doolittle, E. (2019, September 19). Are You What You Eat? Understanding the Links Between Diet, Behavior, and Achievement During Middle School. Inside IES Research.
Evans, R. R., Orihuela, C. A., & Mrug, S. (2021). Middle school stakeholder perceptions of school nutrition reform since the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act of 2010. American Journal of Health Education, 52(5): 276-287. DOI: 10.1080/19325037.2021.1955226
Keane, K., Evans, R. R., Orihuela, C.A., & Mrug, S. (2023). Teacher-student relationships, stress, and psychosocial functioning during early adolescence. Psychology in the Schools, 60: 5124-5144.
Kemp, K., Orihuela, C.A., Morrow, C. D., Judd, S. E., Evans, R.R., Mrug, S. (2024). Associations between dietary habits, socio-demographics, and gut microbial composition in healthy adolescents. British Journal of Nutrition. 131(5):809-820.
Lin, Y. C., Gallo, S., Baxter, S., Orihuela, C., Xu, J., Chen, X., Mrug, S. & Evans, R. (2022). PO84 The Relationship between middle-School children's body mass index, school lunch participation and consumption. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 54(7), S57.
Orihuela, C.A., Evans, R.R., Mrug, S. (2024). Student stakeholders' perspective on middle school lunch programs: A qualitative study. American Journal of Health Education. DOI: 10.1080/19325037.2023.2297286
Orihuela, C., Cox, C., Evans, R. R., & Mrug, g, S. (2023). Associations of household food insecurity with academic outcomes in early adolescents. Journal of School Health, 93(10): 883-890.
Orihuela, C., Evans, R. R., & Mrug, S. (2023). Associations between sleepiness, sleep duration and academic outcomes in early adolescence. Psychology in the Schools, 60(6): 1936-1957.
Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigator: Evans, Retta
- Middle school staff and students identified benefits and barriers to implementing school nutrition reforms and providing healthy and palatable meals in school settings. Staff recommended more flexibility in implementation, and students recommended better quality, variety, flavor, and presentation of foods, as well as more comprehensive promotion of healthy eating at school (Evans, Orihuela, & Mrug, 2021; Orihuela, Evans, & Mrug, 2024).
- Students' sociodemographic characteristics and dietary habits are associated with different diversity and composition of the gut microbiome. Specifically, students from suburban and urban areas, racial/ethnic minority students, and students who skip breakfast or eat highly processed and low nutrition quality foods (e.g., processed meats, fried foods, more eating out) have less diverse and less healthy guts that may contribute to more health problems over time (Kemp, Orihuela, Morrow, Judd, Evans, & Mrug, 2024).
- Food insecurity, defined as limited access to adequate foods due to a lack of money or resources, contributes to lower academic skills over time in middle school students over and above household income and other sociodemographic characteristics. Reducing food insecurity through school nutrition and other public policy programs is important to support students' academic outcomes (Orihuela, Cox, Evans, & Mrug, 2023).
- Sleep plays a key role in middle school students' academic enablers, academic skills, and grades. Students who sleep about 8 hours per night and who do not feel sleepy during the day have better academic outcomes than those who sleep fewer than 7 hours or more than 9 hours per night and those who feel sleepy during the day (Orihuela, Evans, & Mrug, 2023).
- Middle school students who experience more stress feel more anxious and depressed. Students who have more conflict with teachers engage in more aggressive and rule breaking behaviors, whereas those with positive student-teacher relationships behave less aggressively over time. Interventions that promote stress management and positive student-teacher relationships may improve students' adjustment at school (Keane, Evans, Orihuela, & Mrug, 2023).
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