About

Hannah Thompson is an epidemiologist who received her MPH in Public Health Nutrition at UC Berkeley and her PhD in Epidemiology and Translational Science at UCSF. Her research focus is on school- and community-based methods to increase physical activity levels, with the goals of improving youth health and decreasing health disparities. She is specifically interested in interventions to improve the quantity and quality of physical education in public schools. Through both qualitative and quantitative methods, she works to understand how schools and community-based youth development and physical activity organizations can work together to increase access to physical activity, with a particular focus on children in communities at highest risk for inactivity and poor health.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Pediatrics
• Environmental health
• Political Science
• Internal medicine
• Surgery
• Demography
• Gerontology
• Family medicine
• Pathology

Selected publications

• Earlier Age at Cancer Diagnosis Among Sexual Minority Adults: a National Analysis from 2019 to 2023

  Journal of General Internal Medicine · 2026-04-17

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  PublisherDOI

• Trends in 4th−12th grade students' aerobic capacity and muscular strength and endurance: New York City public school students, 2006–2019

  Frontiers in Public Health · 2026-02-18

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Background Systematically monitoring youth fitness over time is critical for designing and implementing policies and interventions to maintain/increase youth fitness and reduce the burden of non-communicable disease. This study describes trends in student fitness over school years 2006/07–2018/19, the longest period for which US-based data are available. Methods This observational, longitudinal study uses 13 years of population-weighted data from the New York City (NYC) FITNESSGRAM from 2,272,575 unique students (8,523,877 student-year observations) in 4th−12th grades from 1,721 public schools. Sex-and age-specific performance was assessed using healthy fitness zones (HFZ), validated performance standards indicating whether individual fitness was sufficient for good overall health. Adjusted generalized estimating equations determined the prevalence of being in the HFZ for aerobic capacity, push-ups, and curl-ups for all students, and by student sex, grade level, race/ethnicity, and home neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES). Results In 2006/07, 24.7% of students were in the HFZ for aerobic capacity, 55.3% for push-ups, and 65.0% for curl-ups. By 2018–19, 35.6% were in the HFZ for aerobic capacity (a relative increase of 44.1% from baseline; p < 0.001); 56.1% (SD = 0.56) for push-ups (1.4% relative increase; p < 0.001); and 70.5% (SD = 0.54) for curl-ups (8.5% relative increase; p < 0.001). Stratified models demonstrated persistent differences in the proportion of students in the HFZ by sex, school level, and home neighborhood SES. Gaps between non-Hispanic White compared to non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic students grew slightly. Conclusion Thirteen years of data from the largest school district in the nation demonstrate overall improvements in student fitness performance on all three tests, with the largest gains seen for aerobic capacity. However, continued work is necessary to address persistent disparities in NYC youth aerobic capacity and muscular strength and endurance by sex, grade level, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Associations Between School‐Based Recess Interventions and Student Chronic Absenteeism in Low‐Income California Schools

  Journal of School Health · 2026-03-17

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Recess-based interventions promote physical activity, socioemotional development, and positive school climates and may also influence attendance, but remain understudied. We examined the association between exposure to recess-based interventions through the nonprofit Playworks and chronic absenteeism in low-income California elementary schools. METHODS: Observational study including 4361 Title I schools from 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024, with 384 Playworks-exposed schools (85 high-dose program exposure, 299 low-dose program exposure). Adjusted regression models estimated differences in the proportion of chronically absent students, overall and by student race and ethnicity, between Playworks-exposed and nonexposed schools. RESULTS: Playworks-exposed schools had a 0.6% (95% CI, -1.1 to -0.1) lower proportion of chronic absenteeism than nonexposed schools, with notable differences among Hispanic students (-1.95%; 95% CI, -3.7 to -0.5). Schools with high-dose Playworks demonstrated statistically significantly lower chronic absenteeism than nonexposed schools (24.6% vs. 26.4%; 95% CI, -2.7 to -0.7). IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY: Recess-based programs like Playworks may support school attendance, with potential to address disparities for students most impacted by chronic absenteeism. Districts might consider incorporating recess programs into multi-tiered attendance strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Playworks exposure, especially at high doses, is associated with lower chronic absenteeism in low-income elementary schools, especially among Hispanic students.

  PublisherDOI

• Revitalizing the US Youth Presidential Fitness Test: Are States Prepared to Support Implementation?

  Preventing Chronic Disease · 2026-04-30

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Our objective was to describe policy infrastructure of elementary school fitness testing at the state level and to assess states' readiness for implementation of the recently reinstated Presidential Fitness Test. We conducted a cross-sectional policy analysis by using data from the State of the States Policy Report and used the Classification of Laws Associated with School Students to create a standardized readiness index. Only 5 states required recommended weekly minutes of physical education, 24 had no fitness testing requirements, 6 mandated testing results reporting, and most delegated compliance monitoring locally. State policies are not positioned to support large-scale standardized fitness testing, indicating a need for coordinated reform.

  PublisherDOI

• School based physical fitness testing: challenges and opportunities

  Pediatric Research · 2026-05-05

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• Accountability and Funding for State-Level School Physical Education and Recess Laws

  American Journal of Preventive Medicine · 2025-07-31 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  School physical education and recess provide important opportunities to increase youth physical activity and socioemotional development. However, compliance with existing laws is low at the elementary level. Reported barriers to law implementation include limited accountability and funding. However, the number of state physical education and recess laws that stipulate accountability and/or funding remains unknown. This cross-sectional review of active U.S. state-level laws related to public elementary school physical education and recess was conducted between October and December 2024. The Classification of Laws Associated with School Students and the National Association of State Boards of Education databases, along with web searches, were used to identify laws. Laws were double coded for inclusion of accountability- and funding-related language. Forty-nine U.S. states (96.1%) had physical education laws, and 22 (43.1%) had recess law; 21 (41.2%) had both. Among states with physical education law, 12 (25.5%) and 1 (2.0%) included language on accountability and funding, respectively. Among states with recess laws, 5 (22.7%) included language related to accountability, and none contained funding-related language. State-level physical education and recess legislation is highly prevalent, but most laws do not contain accountability-related language; virtually none contain funding-related language, which may be inhibiting implementation and driving inequities in related health outcomes. Additional research examining the relationship between accountability and funding language in physical education and recess laws and the degree of implementation of the laws is necessary to help inform the development of stronger laws to support the provision of quality physical education and recess in schools nationally.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Heightened prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome in U.S. sexual minorities

  Journal of Psychiatric Research · 2025-12-11

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• The association between place of birth and physical fitness among Latino youth: Findings from New York City public school students, 2006–2019

  Public Health · 2025-02-08

  articleSenior author
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• Association of Milk Fat Intake on BMI Change and Nutrient Intake in WIC-Enrolled Toddlers

  Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior · 2025-11-21

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• Harnessing Occupational and Environmental Medicine Expertise to Transform Medical Care: A Catalyst for Mitigating the Human Health Impacts of Climate Change

  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine · 2025-08-11 · 3 citations

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Frequent coauthors

• Kristine A. Madsen

  University of California, Berkeley

  164 shared

• Wendi Gosliner

  University of California, Berkeley

  70 shared

• Stephanie S. Machado

  California State University, Chico

  62 shared

• Marisa Neelon

  56 shared

• Ana Ibarra Castro

  University of California, Berkeley

  50 shared

• Lorrene D. Ritchie

  University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources

  38 shared

• Jennifer Linchey

  University of California, Berkeley

  29 shared

• Gail Woodward‐Lopez

  University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources

  13 shared