Ms. Lawren Long had defended her doctoral dissertation on July 16, 2020. Her dissertation (topic: Evaluating the Impacts of the Health, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2020 (HHFKA) on Childhood Obesity) has analyzed the impacts of the federal registration on K-12 students’ obesity trends across the nation, employing the pre-post interrupted time series analysis. Her analysis has found that the federal legislation has improved the quality of school breakfast and lunch programs, and expanded the number of participating schools in providing nutritional foods to the students. However, the rates of obesity showed mixed results. Professor Johnny Gilleylen served as the dissertation advisor and the committee chair of her dissertation. Professors Ester Stokes, Jae-Young Ko, and Talya Thomas (JSU Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning), and Dr. Brenda Campbell Jenkins (JSU School of Public Health) were the committee members. It took four yours for her defense since she joined the doctoral program in the fall of 2016. Truly she has devoted herself to the doctoral work over the years. Congratulations, Dr. Long!!!!!
Today’s dissertation defense was held in an online format, following the JSU guideline.
