Food insecurity puts people at risk for many poor physical and mental health outcomes. Food insecurity stayed stable during much of the COVID-19 pandemic but rose significantly from 2021-2022 among U.S. households with children. Many federal supports were offered during the COVID-19 pandemic. These included expansions in food assistance programs like SNAP, as well as More
Keywords: COVID-19, Supportive family policies
Date: January 2024
Resource Type: Research Brief
Focus Areas: Diet Quality & Healthy Weight Food Access
To address ongoing concerns of child poverty across the United States, states have introduced and modified family economic security policies related to the state minimum wage (MW) and state earned income tax credit (EITC). While poor nutritional health disproportionately impacts children who experience poverty, few studies have examined the potentially beneficial effects of state-level MW More
Keywords: Food insecurity, Supportive family policies
Date: November 2023
Resource Type: Grant Summary
Focus Areas: Diet Quality & Healthy Weight Food Access Pricing & Economics
By providing resources to low-income families with children, the safety net has the potential to reduce food insecurity and improve nutrition. Understanding how much, how, and for whom the safety net impacts food security is a critical input into active policy discussions about the best way to support children in low-income families. The project will More
Keywords: Food insecurity, Supportive family policies
Medicaid, SNAP, and WIC provide low-income children access to vital medical and nutrition services for long-term health and well-being. Despite these benefits, few studies have investigated if these safety net programs, or the synergistic combination of all three programs, are associated with diet quality and weight status; and none have focused on examining these longitudinal More
Date: November 2023
Resource Type: Grant Summary
Focus Areas: Diet Quality & Healthy Weight Early Childhood Nutrition Policy & Programs
Millions of American renter households every year are threatened with eviction, an event associated with severe negative impacts on health and economic well-being. Yet we know little about the characteristics of individuals living in these households. Here, we link 38 million eviction court cases to US Census Bureau data to show that 7.6 million people, More
Keywords: Housing
This study aimed to estimate the 10-year cost-effectiveness of school-based BMI report cards, a commonly implemented program for childhood obesity prevention in the US where student BMI is reported to parents/guardians by letter with nutrition and physical activity resources, for students in grades 3 to 7. A microsimulation model, using data inputs from evidence reviews More
Keywords: Healthy weight, School wellness policies
Housing instability and high housing costs are important correlates of food insecurity, and are disproportionately present for Black, Latino, and single-parent households. Although the last two years witnessed the largest allocation of funding for emergency rental assistance (ERA) in U.S. history, the impact of these programs on children’s outcomes, particularly their health and nutrition, is More
Forty-six billion dollars in Federal Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) during the COVID-19 pandemic may have bolstered food budgets by alleviating housing costs, yet impacts on household food insecurity (FI) and other health outcomes are unknown. This study will investigate to what extent ERA programs led to reductions in household FI or other key improvements such More
The project aims to provide a preliminary assessment of how Racial and Health Equity Impact Assessments (R/HEIAs) are being applied to state and local laws and proposed laws related to healthy eating and food access. The researchers will identify and collect examples of R/HEIAs conducted on healthy eating and related food policies, analyze the R/HEIAs, More
Keywords: Equity and disparities, Law/policy
Date: May 2023
Resource Type: Commissioned Research Project Summary
Focus Areas: Food Access Healthy Communities
The U.S. charitable food system can play a role in addressing social determinants of health because of its expansive reach and community connections. The article highlights (a) strategies to prioritize access to nutritious food and provide a dignified experience; (b) examples of how food pantries can be a portal to federal benefits, health care, and other More
Keywords: Food insecurity