Newsletter
Contact
During the COVID-19 pandemic, policies either mitigated or exacerbated inequities in child health. Existing research has focused on evaluating the effects of federal and state COVID-19-related policies; however, understanding the role of local county policies is also critical to informing current and future policymaking to support child nutrition and health. This study will link data from the NIH-funded US COVID-19 County Policy (UCCP) Database with national survey data to 1) assess how county policies affected child nutrition and health; and 2) conduct subgroup analyses to assess how policies affected disparities in outcomes among vulnerable subgroups of children.
Start Date: June 2023
ID #: 283-5110
Principal Investigator: Rita Hamad, MD, PhD
Co-Principal Investigator: Hilary Seligman, MD, MAS
Organization: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Funding Round: ARPA2
Age Groups: Adolescents (grades 9 to 12), 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, Equity and disparities, Food insecurity, Healthy weight, Housing, Law/policy, Poverty & economic well-being, Supportive family policies
Resource Type: Grant Summary
State: National
Focus Area: Nutrition Policy & Programs
Related Research
January 2025
A Systematic Review: The Impact of COVID-19 Policy Flexibilities on SNAP and WIC Programmatic Outcomes
The objective of this study was to explore the impact of policy flexibilities deployed during the COVID-19 public health emergency on access, enrollment/retention, benefit utilization, and perceptions of SNAP and WIC. The review identified 37 eligible articles. Twelve studies evaluated policy flexibilities in SNAP only, 21 in WIC only, and 4 in both programs. Across MoreDecember 2024
Opportunities to Improve Summer EBT: Perspectives from state SNAP agencies
Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), or SUN Bucks, is a new federal program that provides grocery benefits to low-income families with children during the summer months, when children no longer have access to free or reduced-price meals at school. However, 13 states did not opt into the program when it launched in 2024. To understand MoreNovember 2024