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
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 nutrition security, optimal More
HER is convening an expert panel—chaired by Dr. Jim Krieger and Dr. Lindsey Smith Taillie—to develop evidence-informed recommendations for policymakers and advocates to support policies regulating UPF that positively impact nutrition and health, are feasible to implement in a variety of settings, are equitable, and are easy for consumers to understand. The panel is composed More
In 2021 Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit (CTC), one of the largest US economic supports for working families with proven benefits for health. Information on CTC take-up among eligible families is lacking. Understanding barriers to anti-poverty programs is an urgent policy issue, as low take-up is an established barrier to health equity. Among a More
This study aimed to assess whether state minimum wage generosity was associated with change in food insecurity among households with children and explore differential policy impacts across sociodemographic groups. This cross-sectional study of a national sample of US households from the Current Population Survey used a 2-way fixed effects modeling approach to test whether increases More
The objectives of this study were to develop a shared understanding among multiple stakeholders about the structural and underlying, interconnected drivers of SSB and water consumption in the Washington, DC, metro area and to have them identify feasible and influential policy levers. A community-based system dynamics approach was used during a 2-day group model building More
The study aimed to describe how Hispanic parents currently living in the greater Washington, DC, metro area and born outside of the United States, perceived upstream factors that influenced their current beverage choice. Six qualitative focus groups were conducted in Spanish in 2021. The five key findings were: Growing up (in their countries of origin More
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