Stephanie Vaughn

Senior Marketing Manager at Voices for Healthy Kids

Stephanie Vaughn is Senior Marketing Manager for Voices for Healthy Kids, an initiative of the American Heart Association with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, working to help make each day healthier for all children.

Twitter: @Voices4HK

Blog Post List

Childcare & Early Education Family Economic Security Food! Politics & Policy

October 19, 2020

In Michigan schools, children are eating fresh peaches for the first time after only tasting canned. The kids take a juicy bite, and their faces light up. Even apples—the iconic school fruit—are causing a sensation as children learn in school meals that different varieties can be sweet, tart, and in between. And Brussels sprouts? Yes, please. Roasted. It’s all thanks to an innovative Michigan program that is cultivating healthy eating habits among children by introducing them to the wide variety of fruits and vegetables so necessary for good nutrition, and doing it in schools—the places where kids get up to two and even three meals a day.

Food! Politics & Policy

November 7, 2019

Voices for Healthy Kids has funded Eat Smart, Move More South Carolina (ESMMSC) since 2014. Recently, the coalition, working with the South Carolina affiliate of the American Heart Association (AHA) and others, successfully pursued healthy vending policies in several cities around the state, including the passage of one of the country’s strongest vending and food service policies in Columbia, South Carolina.

Food! Politics & Policy

October 29, 2019

The Double Up Food Bucks program, which matches SNAP dollars spent on fruits and vegetables, is a national model for healthy food incentives. It operates in 20 states and is expanding to more, but it began in Michigan.

Food! Politics & Policy

October 11, 2019

"I think the broader you can make the issue of hunger, the more successful your efforts will be. It’s critical that people have enough to eat and can access nutritious food, but if you connect that issue to economic development, to supporting farmers, to improving public health then it becomes a conversation that involves everyone and everyone becomes invested in helping it succeed.”

Food! Politics & Policy

October 3, 2019

Every day, in communities across America, people with low wages face difficult tradeoffs when trying to cover the necessary expenses of daily life. These tradeoffs include balancing the costs of housing, health care, child care and transportation as well as the ongoing struggle to afford healthy food. In some neighborhoods, there may be very few or no places to buy healthy food, adding time and transit expenses to the price of groceries. That’s why more than 45 states offer incentive programs to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants fill their pantries with more fruits and vegetables.

Food!

September 23, 2019

New York City has more than 26,000 restaurants. Starting next year, those with children’s menus must offer healthier drinks, like milk and water, as the default drink — thanks to the city’s new Healthy Happy Kids’ Meals Law.

Family Economic Security Food!

July 31, 2019

Through a new initiative, El Paso county is actively working to improve food retail infrastructure and bring grocery stores, community markets and mobile food stands to areas of the county with high poverty, few living wage jobs and lack of healthy and affordable food.

Food!

July 11, 2019

A new program called Peace Parks creates safe opportunities for teens and young adults who live in neighborhoods affected by crime to go out and have fun at night. San Francisco's sugary drink tax funds most of the program's budget.

Childcare & Early Education Food!

May 21, 2019

Within Kansas City, MO, a baby born in one neighborhood had a life expectancy 15 years shorter than a child born just a few miles away. Communities Creating Opportunity (CCO),a driving force for social justice and health in Kansas City and a Voices for Healthy Kids grantee, responded to the challenge in many ways. That comprehensive approach to improving health, particularly in neighborhoods that historically have lacked access to financial investment and opportunities, helped Kansas City win a 2015 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize.

Food! Politics & Policy

January 16, 2019

On Jan. 1, thanks to the Healthy-By-Default Kids' Meal Beverages Act, California became the first state to require water or milk as the beverage automatically offered with kids' meals at restaurants. By replacing sugary drinks with healthy options as the default beverages on kids' menus, the new law is a significant milestone in our collective efforts to encourage kids to eat and drink healthy.

Environmental Health Politics & Policy

January 4, 2019

Complete streets policies make communities and neighborhoods more livable by ensuring people can safely get where they need – to work, school, the library, grocery store, restaurants and shopping destinations. The good news is that 30 states and Washington, D.C. have adopted complete streets policies; however, only 17 of those have policies that go deeper with clear requirements for action. Thankfully, organizations across the country are working to resolve this issue. Read below to learn more about the recent successes in Milwaukee and other complete streets campaigns...

Food! Politics & Policy

December 12, 2018

Nearly 1.9 million residents of New York City — almost a quarter of the city’s population — live in lower-income communities with limited access to healthy food retail, and data show they are at risk of poor nutrition and rising rates of heart disease. The American Heart Association in New York City, with support from a grant from Voices for Healthy Kids, aims to help residents address these issues by advocating for city funding that will directly impact this outcome.

Food!

May 23, 2018

On average, children today consume roughly 25 percent of their calories from eating out, and about 42 percent of children between the ages of two and nine eat fast food on any given day. That’s why restaurants are an important setting to encourage menu choices that are healthy for our kids.

Food! Politics & Policy

March 16, 2017

The Navajo Nation Preparatory School in Farmington, New Mexico prides itself on the fact that it is the only Navajo-sanctioned, college-preparatory school for Native Americans - a school that serves some of the best and brightest students from the Navajo Nation. Students of the school stay in dorms, necessitated by the fact that the Navajo Nation covers more than 27 thousand square miles and many of the students live hours away from the school. But that necessity has also become an opportunity to work with students to develop an appreciation of and interest in whole health, which works to support the development needs of tribes.

Food!

January 27, 2017

The Lower Sioux Community is working increase access to healthier and more traditional foods in order to help reduce some of the diet-related health impacts many tribal members are experiencing.

Food! Politics & Policy

August 22, 2016

In this era of political disagreement, it’s unusual to see political parties put aside their differences, join hands and work together for the greater good. But that’s exactly what happened recently in Minnesota around efforts to improve and increase access to healthy and affordable food. Minnesota is one of the lowest ranked states in terms of access to healthy and affordable foods, according to an April 2016 report prepared by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and Wilder Research. Hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans currently live in areas where they have limited or no easy access to...

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Blog Post List

Michigan Invests $2 Million into Its “10 Cents a Meal for Michigan’s Kids & Farms” Program

Voices for Healthy Kids SNAP Incentives Series: Eat Smart, Move More South Carolina

Voices for Healthy Kids SNAP Incentives Series: Michigan Fair Food Network

Voices for Healthy Kids SNAP Incentives Series: Massachusetts Food System Collaborative

Voices for Healthy Kids SNAP Incentives Series: Making Nutritious Produce Available in Hawaii

Dining Healthy in the Big Apple: New York City Makes Healthy Drinks the Kids' Menu Default

El Paso, Texas Launches Nation’s First County-Level Healthy Food Financing Initiative

Funded by San Francisco's Sugary Drink Tax, Peace Parks Give Young People a Safe Place to Be Active and Have Fun

Kansas City, MO: New School District Wellness Policy Aims to Create a Culture of Health at School

California Becomes First State to Require Healthy Drinks on Kids’ Restaurant Menus

Making Streets Safer Across the Nation

Equity Through Access to Healthy Food in New York

Forward Progress for Healthier Kids’ Meal Options

Creating the Navajo Nation’s Future Healthy Eating Leaders

Creating Healthy Eating Opportunities for the Nation’s Native American Populations

Of Angels and Healthy, Affordable Foods in Minnesota