Leveraging national parks to promote healthy nutrition for individuals and communities: A CDC – National Park Service (NPS) Healthy Foods Assessment

Introduction: In 2010, NPS initiated Healthy Parks Healthy People US, a movement to promote health through improvements to physical activity, mental health and nutrition. However, NPS had limited information about the nutritional quality of foods sold in national parks to >280 million visitors annually. This pilot CDC-NPS nutrition environment survey aimed to provide baseline data and inform interventions. Methods: We adapted a validated observational tool to assess availability, pricing and promotion of nutrition offerings at 11 national parks in 6 states during May 2011. We created a novel smart-phone tool to assess free drinking water access, including GPS coordinates. Descriptive statistics provide baseline data for 49 vending machines, 34 snack shops, 21 restaurants, and 157 drinking water access points. Results: Only 34% of beverages offered in vending machines were low in calories. Among snack shops, 23% sold fruit, but 85% sold desserts (e.g. candy, popsicles). Snack shops offered twice as many types (e.g. soda, tea) of sugar-sweetened beverages (meanąSD; 4 ą 1.6) as beverages without added sugar (meanąSD; 2.2 ą 1.9). While 25% of restaurants featured displays promoting energy dense foods, just 5% promoted healthier foods. Only 20% of restaurant menus identified ≥1 healthy option and none listed nutrition information. Among drinking water access points, 78% functioned. Conclusion: This baseline assessment found limited healthy food options in national parks. Increasing promotion and availability of healthy foods and drinking water may aid NPS in improving nutrition for visitors/employees and in serving as a model for community parks and open spaces.