A new University of Nevada, Reno dashboard helps track food insecurity and poor nutrition in the Silver State. | Pixabay/Ayelet Stern
A new University of Nevada, Reno dashboard helps track food insecurity and poor nutrition in the Silver State. | Pixabay/Ayelet Stern
The University of Nevada, Reno has developed a new online dashboard to help people better understand the state's food security challenges as well as where residents have access to better nutrition and can partake in more physical activity.
The dashboard is believed to be the first of it's kind in the United States and is called the SNAP-Ed Needs Assessment Dashboard, according to a news release.
"The ability of this dashboard to inform programmatic decisions for a limited-resource community is incredibly impactful," Macy Helm, education coordinator with the university's College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources extension, said in the release. "I look forward to seeing how this dashboard can be used to analyze trends related to dietary behavior, physical activity and food security in the next five to 10 years."
The release from the University of Nevada, Reno noted that more than 11% of sixth graders in Clark County went hungry at least once in the past month because of a lack of food at home. It also pointed to a 47% increase in the number of people in the Las Vegas area who skipped meals because there wasn't enough food at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bill Payne, dean of the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources, said the information provided by the dashboard is "an essential tool to better address issues" in Nevada.
He added that those who developed the dashboard "worked hard to collect this essential data and make it publicly available."
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