This study explored how increased Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits interacted for dually enrolled households. Twenty-five parents dually enrolled in WIC and SNAP in the spring of 2020 shared perceptions of expanded benefits and reduced administrative requirements via semistructured interviews. Specifically, parents shared More

Given recent changes to nutrition policies and programs and the food environment landscape, the need for new evidence on how these changes impact nutrition, health, and food access is greater than ever. HER has also published a research agenda intended to provide a blueprint for immediate (i.e., 12-18 month) research needs to inform strategies to More

This study examines how removing synthetic dyes from the food supply impacts the nutritional quality of grocery purchases among families with children, focusing on the 7 dyes targeted by FDA for phase-out by the end of 2026 (some of which are required (i.e., red dye #3), while the removal of others are voluntary). Aim 1 More

This study examines how sudden cuts to USDA programs supporting the charitable food system (i.e., The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA)) affect the supply of healthy food available for distribution by food banks. Existing data from 15 food banks will be analyzed, and additional data will More

SNAP is the largest federally funded nutrition assistance program in the U.S., providing support to more than 40 million Americans. This study aims to provide tangible information, insights, and resources grounded in SNAP participants’ preferences and feedback to support the implementation and communication of SNAP Food Restriction waivers, minimizing barriers to SNAP participation and benefit More

WIC serves more than 50% of all infants born in the U.S. The goal of this study is to build a forecasting model to estimate national WIC funding needs under various policy and economic conditions through fiscal year 2027. The model will also be designed to allow for updates to forecast funding needs for future More

This study conducted a comprehensive literature review to understand the dimensions of stigma associated with both government food program utilization (i.e., SNAP, WIC) and non-profit administered free food programs (i.e., emergency food programs such as food banks, pantries, and cupboards) and to examine the effectiveness of existing stigma reduction interventions in the context of food More

In 2022, Colorado became one of the first states in the nation to pass a universal free school meal program when Proposition FF created Colorado Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA). In May 2025, the Colorado General Assembly passed HB25-1274 to fully fund the HSMA program, which has been referred to two ballot measures in More

Long-Term Research Agenda The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) commitment to child obesity ends in December 2025, marking the conclusion of a two-decade investment in Healthy Eating Research (HER). As part of our RWJF legacy, HER is developing a national research agenda for policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) interventions and strategies to promote food and More

Little is known about the impacts of SNAP restrictions on the health of program participants. This brief provides a narrative review of published evidence on SNAP restrictions and combined incentive-disincentive approaches, highlighting the approaches’ historical context, perceptions among program participants, and evidence of impact on SNAP participants’ purchases and health. The studies reviewed found mixed More