Evaluating the Impact of Emergency Food Benefits in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic on Supermarket Purchases among Families with Children

Start Date: June 2023

ID #: 283-5112

Principal Investigator: Joshua Petimar, ScD

Co-Principal Investigator: Michele Polacsek, PhD

Organization: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc.

Funding Round: ARPA2

See more related research

Share

SNAP and WIC benefits increased in 2020-2021 to combat food insecurity due to COVID-19. Understanding these policies’ impact on household food purchase quality is crucial to guide future recommendations for these nutrition assistance programs. This study aims to assess the effect of changes to SNAP and WIC benefits implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of supermarket food purchases of lower-income families with children. The study design is a comparative interrupted time series of supermarket purchases and qualitative interviews among SNAP and WIC participants shopping at a supermarket chain in New England.

Age Groups: Adolescents (grades 9 to 12), Adults and Families, Elementary-age children (grades K to 5), Pregnant women, infants and toddlers (ages 0 to 2), Preschool-age children (ages 3 to 5), Young adolescents (grades 6 to 8)

Keywords: COVID-19, Diet quality/dietary assessment, Equity and disparities, Food insecurity, Fruits and vegetables, Supermarket, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

Resource Type: Grant Summary

States: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont

Focus Area: Nutrition Policy & Programs

Related Research

April 2024

Mixed methods evaluation of the COVID-19 changes to the WIC cash-value benefit for fruits and vegetables

Recent cash-value benefit (CVB) increases are a positive development to help increase WIC participant fruits and vegetables (FV) access. This mixed method study aimed to evaluate (a) the CVB changes’ impact on FV access among WIC child participants measured by CVB redemption rates, (b) facilitators and barriers to CVB changes’ implementation, and (c) differences in More

March 2024

Associations of Increased WIC Benefits for Fruits and Vegetables With Food Security and Satisfaction by Race and Ethnicity

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides nutrition support for racially and ethnically diverse populations. In 2021, the monthly cash value benefit (CVB) for the purchase of fruits and vegetables increased from $9 to $35 and was later adjusted to $24. This study investigated, by racial and ethnic groups, whether More

January 2024

WIC Fruit and Vegetable Study

The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition was funded by Healthy Eating Research to conduct a study exploring how the policy changes in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) cash value benefit (CVB), or fruit and vegetable money, during the pandemic impacted the WIC program and child access to fruits and More