W2194: Children's Healthy Living Network (CHLN) in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Region

(Multistate Research Project)

Status: Active

Project Menu

SAES-422 Reports

09/09/2022

Book Chapters

Suzanne Held, Alma Knows His Gun McCormick, Vanessa Simonds, Kathryn L. Braun, Linda Burhansstipanov, Emily Haozous, Valerie Rangel, Jane J. Chung-Do, Ilima Ho-Lastimosa, Rachel Novotny, and Marie Kainoa Fialkowski Revilla. Using Community-based Participatory Research to Address Indigenous Health. In: Improving Indigenous Public Health through Community-Engaged Interventions: Stories of Success. University Press of Kentucky. 2022.

Books

Collaborative Open Education Resource Textbook by faculty and students from the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences. Human Nutrition (Version 2e). Available at: https://pressbooks.oer.hawaii.edu/humannutrition2e22/

Publications

Novotny R, Yamanaka A, Butel J, Boushey CJ, Dela Cruz R, Aflague T, Coleman, P, Shallcross L, Fleming T, Wilkens LR. Maintenance Outcomes of the Children’s Healthy Living Program on Overweight, Obesity, and Acanthosis Nigricans Among Young Children in the US-Affiliated Pacific Region: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(6):e2214802. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.14802

Dela Cruz R, Wolfe E, Yonemori KM, Fialkowski MK, Wilkens LR, Coleman P, Lameko-Mua S, Johnson E, Gilmatam D, Sigrah C, Shomour M, Remengesau S, Alfred J, Acosta M, Ettienne R, Deenik J, Aflague T, Salazar KA, Novotny R, Boushey CJ. Exploring Foods of the Pacific: Cultural Food Identity in the US Affiliated Pacific Region. Hawaii J Health Soc Welf. 2022. 81(9): 247-252 .

Mulville K, Kai J, Kearney JM, Ng-Osorio J, Boushey CJ, Fialkowski MK. A Qualitative Analysis of a Caregivers' Experience of Complementary Feeding in a Population of Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander and Filipino Infants: The Timing of the Introduction of Complementary Foods, and the Role of Transgenerational Experience. Nutrients. 2022;14(16):3268. 2022 Aug 10. doi:10.3390/nu14163268

Fialkowski MK, Sandlin MR, Kai J, Ng-Osorio J, Custodio RC, Odom SK, Boyd JK, Medina C, Takahashi D, Esquivel MK. An Exploratory Mixed Method Cross-sectional Study to Identify Opportunities to Increase Enrollment and Retention of Native Hawaiian Students in an Undergraduate Dietetic Program. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2022 Aug 21:S2212-2672(22)00933-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2022.08.127. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36002112.

Dela Cruz R, Wolfe E, Yonemori KM, Fialkowski MK, Wilkens LR, Coleman P, Lameko-Mua S, Johnson E, Gilmatam D, Sigrah C, Shomour M, Remengesau S, Alfred J, Acosta M, Ettienne R, Deenik J, Aflague TF, Nelson R, Salazar KA, Novotny R, Boushey CJ. Consumption of Traditional Fruits and Vegetables among Children in the US-Affiliated Pacific Region. Curr Dev Nutr. 2022 Jun 16;6(7):nzac101. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzac101. PMID: 35854938; PMCID: PMC9283104.

Joo KA, Fialkowski MK, Esquivel M, Haumea SL. Hawai'i Registered Dietitian Nutritionist 2019-2020 Workforce Assessment. Hawaii J Health Soc Welf. 2022 Apr;81(4 Suppl 2):31-38. PMID: 35495070; PMCID: PMC9036456.

Kai J, Chen JJ, Braun KL, Kaholokula JK, Novotny R, Boushey CJ, Fialkowski MK. Associations between Cultural Identity, Household Membership and Diet Quality among Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Filipino Infants in Hawai'i. Children (Basel). 2022 Jan 2;9(1):48. doi: 10.3390/children9010048. PMID: 35053673; PMCID: PMC8774442.

Yamanaka AB, Davis JD, Wilkens LR, Hurwitz EL, Fialkowski MK, Deenik J, Guerrero RT, Novotny R. Peer Reviewed: Determination of Child Waist Circumference Cut Points for Metabolic Risk Based on Acanthosis Nigricans, the Children’s Healthy Living Program. Preventing Chronic Disease. 2021;18.2021;18:210021. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd18.210021

Abstracts

Food Insecurity Risk Increases during COVID-19 Pandemic among EFNEP Participants in Micronesia, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting 2022

Presenter: Melissa D. Olfert, Tanisha Aflague

Melissa D. Olfert, DrPH, RDN¹, Tanisha F. Aflague, PhD, RDN², Margaret Weital³, Ayron E Walker, MS¹, Rachel A. Wattick, MS, RDN¹
¹West Virginia University, ²University of Guam, ³Cooperative Research and Extension, College of Micronesia

Food Insecurity Worsens Among EFNEP Participants in North Mariana Islands During COVID-19 Pandemic, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting 2022

Presenter: Melissa D. Olfert, Aflague

Patricia Coleman, MS¹, Melissa D. Olfert, DrPH, RDN², Tanisha F. Aflague, PhD, RDN³, Ayron E. Walker, MS², Rachel A. Wattick, MS, RDN²
¹Northern Marianas College, CNMI, ²West Virginia University, ³College of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Guam

Esquivel M, Yamanaka A, Aflague T, Butel J, Coleman P, Deenik J, Fleming T, Shallcross L, Novotny R. Food insecurity and the food environment in the US Affiliated Pacific. National Institutes of Health: Food insecurity, neighborhood food environment, and nutrition health disparities: state of the science virtual workshop. National Virtual Meeting. September 23, 2021

02/26/2024

IMPACT:

https://www.chl-pacific.org/impact/

Publications from Children's Healthy Living (CHL) Center:

https://www.chl-pacific.org/impact/publications-from-program/

08/07/2024

Publications

Sparks KS, Fialkowski MK, Dela Cruz R, Grandinetti A, Wilkens L, Banna JC, Bersamin A, Paulino Y, Aflague T, Coleman P, et al. Acculturation and Health Status in the Children’s Healthy Living Program in the Pacific Region. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2024; 21(4):448. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21040448

Ryan, S. T., Okely, A. D., Chong, K. H., Stanley, R. M., Randle, M., Waqa, G., Yamanaka, A. B., Guerrero, R. L., Coleman, P., Shallcross, L., Wilkens, L. R., Deenik, J. L., & Novotny, R. (2024). Proportion and Correlates of Children in the US-Affiliated Pacific Region Meeting Sleep, Screen Time, and Physical Activity Guidelines. Journal of physical activity & health, 1:11. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2023-0463

Dela Cruz, R., Galbreath, J., Butel, J., Yamanaka, A. B., Wilkens, L. R., Aflague, T., Coleman, P., Shallcross, L., McFall, P., & Novotny, R. (2024). Social determinants of health literacy among parents and caregivers in the US-Affiliated Pacific. Health promotion international, 39(1), daae002. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daae002

Dela Cruz, R., Novotny, R., Wilkens, L. R., Shvetsov, Y. B., Yamanaka, A. B., Butel, J., Aflague, T. F., Coleman, P., Shallcross, L., Deenik, J., Mapa, V. L. R., Boushey, C. J., & Fleming, T. (2023). Diet Quality of Young Children in the US-Affiliated Pacific's Children's Healthy Living (CHL) Program. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, S2212-2672(23)01309-6. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2023.08.003

Novotny, R., Aflague, T., Butel, J., Coleman, P., Fleming, T., Frank, K., Hovmand, P., Ing, C., Oshiro, J., Shallcross, L., Wilkens, L. (2023). Putting People Back Into Community Food Systems: Community-Based System Dynamics Children’s Healthy Living Food Systems. Current Developments in Nutrition, 7 (Suppl 1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.100267

Perez, R., Aflague, T., Badowski, G., Guerrero, R. L., Yamanaka, A., Wilkens, L., & Novotny, R. (2023). Association Between Healthy Food Store Accessibility and Obesity Prevalence Among School-Age Children in Guam. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 55(7), 61-62.

Abstracts

Butel, J., Yamanaka A., Braun, K.L., Revilla M.K., Esquivel, M., Fleming, T., Coleman, P., Shallcross, L., Aflague, T., and Novotny, R. Sustaining a Multi-level, Multi-Site Intervention: A Case-Study from the Children’s Healthy Living Program. International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Omaha, NE (May 2024).

09/24/2025

Publications

Jacobs, J., Backholer, K., Allender, S., Brown, V., Orellana, L., Novotny, R., Wolfenden, L., Moodie, M., & Nichols, M. (2025). The impact of community-based childhood obesity prevention interventions in Australia by socio-economic position: An individual participant data meta-analysis. Pediatric obesity, e70031. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.70031

Hovmand, P. S., Franck, K., Butel, J., Galbreath, J., Esquivel, M., Coleman, P., ... & Novotny, R. (2025). Developing Group Model Building Workshops for Children’s Healthy Living (CHL) Food Systems. Current Developments in Nutrition, 104583.

Shvetsov, Y. B., Yamanaka, A. B., Dela Cruz, R., Butel, J., Hammond, K., Aflague, T. F., Coleman, P., Shallcross, L., Fleming, T., Fialkowski, M. K., Wilkens, L. R., & Novotny, R. (2025). Two a priori dietary indices among young children in the Children's Healthy Living (CHL) Trial: validation and association with health outcomes. The Journal of nutrition, S0022-3166(25)00170-1. Advance online publication.

Butel, J., Yamanaka, A., Shallcross, L., Fleming, T., Coleman, P., Aflague, T., Novotny, R. (2025). Availability of Locally Produced Foods in the Children’s Healthy Living Center’s Food Cost Survey for the United States Affiliated Region. Hawaii J Health Soc Welf. 2024;84(2):38-44.

Dumuid, D., Yamanaka, A. B., Chong, K. H., Okely, A. D., Wilkens, L. R., Shvetsov, Y. B., Lozano, C. P., & Novotny, R. (2025). Diet, Activity and Sleep Clusters Associated With Obesity Markers of Children in the US-Affiliated Pacific. Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992), 10.1111/apa.70012. Advance online publication.

Seale, L. A., Yamanaka, A. B., Hammond, K., Lim, E., Wilkens, L. R., McFall, P., ... & Novotny, R. (2025). Dietary Micronutrient Intake and the Prevalence of Metabolic Conditions among Children from the United States–Affiliated Pacific Region in the Children’s Healthy Living Program. Current Developments in Nutrition, 9(1), 104531.

Jacobs, J., Wolfenden, L., Bolton, K. A., Brown, V., Sultana, M., Backholer, K., Allender, S., Novotny, R., Peeters, A., & Nichols, M. (2024). Umbrella review of systematic reviews to inform the development and translation of community-based childhood obesity prevention interventions. Obesity reviews: an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, e13864. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13864.

Chong, K. H., Suesse, T., Cross, P. L., Ryan, S. T., Aadland, E., Aoko, O., Byambaa, A., Carson, V., Chaput, J. P., Christian, H., Cliff, D. P., De Craemer, M., de Lucena Martins, C. M., Delisle Nyström, C., Draper, C. E., El Hamdouchi, A., Florindo, A. A., Guan, H., Ha, A. S., Hamzavi Zarghani, N., … Okely, A. D. (2024). Pooled Analysis of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Sleep Among Children From 33 Countries. JAMA pediatrics, 178(11), 1199–1207. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3330

Novotny, Rachel, Rica Dela Cruz, Ashley Yamanaka, Jean Butel, Jordan Oshiro, Lynne Wilkens, Karen Franck et al. "Regional Causal Loop Diagram With Action Ideas for Improving Child Diet Quality and Weight Status in the Children’s Healthy Living Food Systems (CHLFS) Program." Current Developments in Nutrition 8 (2024).

Yamanaka, Ashley B., Lucia A. Seale, Kristi Hammond, Eunjung Lim, Leslie Shallcross, Tanisha Aflague, and Rachel Novotny. "Micronutrient Intake and Metabolic Status Among Children in the US-Affiliated Pacific Region." Current Developments in Nutrition 8 (2024).

Conference Presentations

Butel, J. CHL Network Multistate Project (W2194). Expanded Food and National Nutrition Education Program Coordinators Conference. Washington, D.C. Feb. 2025

Galbreath, J. Assessing and Measuring Food Security in U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Households: A Scoping Review. Alaska Food Festival and Conference, March 27-29, in Kodiak, AK (8th sesquiennial conference).