Dr. Bryce Lowery, associate professor of Regional + City Planning, recently published an article titled, “Food Waste, Preference, and Cost: Perceived Barriers and Self-Reported Food Service Best Practices in Family Child Care Homes” in the journal Childhood Obesity. This publication is part of Dr. Lowery’s work with a team at the University of Oklahoma Health and Sciences Center that includes Daisy Butzer, daughter of Gibbs College Dean Hans E. Butzer.
Family Child Care Homes (FCCH) are settings where providers care for children at their own residence. The facilities face unique challenges, which may result in children not receiving optimal nutrition and having a higher risk of obesity. The objective of Dr. Lowery’s study was to determine differences in food service best practices scores between FCCHs who did and did not perceive barriers to serving healthy meals.
FCCHs perceiving food waste as a barrier had significantly lower scores for total food and beverage, fruits and vegetables, whole fruits, and nonstarchy vegetables. Providers perceiving food preferences as a barrier had significantly lower scores compared to those who did not. No significant differences were found in best practices among providers with or without perceived barrier of food costs.
This study’s results emphasized that food waste is an understudied barrier in FCCHs to serve healthy meals. Research is needed to explore these perceived barriers in FCCHs to improve best practices around meals.
Read the full article.
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
Gibbs Construction Science and Architecture students recently traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to compete in the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 8 Student Competition. The team partnered with Czech Technical University and secured third place in the Design-Build category.
Gibbs College is pleased to present the exhibition Vollendorf in Oklahoma: The Architecture of Dean Bryant Vollendorf during the Spring 2026 semester. It will be on display in Gould Hall, on the OU-Norman Campus, from February 16, 2026 - March 13, 2026.
