Municipal

Policymakers pay a lot of attention to the meals served in public schools. In the midst of a nationwide childhood obesity epidemic, lawmakers are working to improve the nutritional value of foods and beverages served on campus. Some research suggests healthier lunches lead to higher test scores and that many kids rely on school meals as their main source of food.

The problem of homelessness is a particularly difficult one for researchers to understand and journalists to cover. As a 2013 study in the American Journal of Public Health indicates, even those who have deep knowledge in this area and work directly with the homeless often have difficulty assessing patterns and needs.

A new study suggests that laws allowing police to directly cite motorists for not wearing seat belts may be less effective than they once were at reducing accident deaths.