SNAP Purchasing Power and Food Insecurity During the Pandemic

Food price inflation is an adverse outcome of COVID-19 that makes nutrition security more difficult for low-income families with children. School closures and pandemic-related assistance programs placed additional strains on the retail food system, which may have further amplified inflationary pressure on the cost of foods needed to support a healthy diet. The goal of More

Effects of SNAP Participation on the Healthfulness of Foods Purchased by Households with Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of March 2020, changes were made to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (including emergency allotments, meal replacement benefits during school closures for children, and SNAP operation waivers), which could have had a protective effect on nutritional quality of SNAP households’ food purchases. Specific aims are to (1) More

Child and Adult Care Food Program: Impacts of COVID-19 Differences in Reimbursement Rates on Family Childcare Home Providers, Children, and Families

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), the largest U.S. nutrition program for childcare, provides tiered reimbursements to family childcare homes (FCCHs) to serve healthy foods to a large proportion of children from households with low incomes. Due to COVID-19, all FCCHs on CACFP temporarily received the higher Tier I reimbursement rate. The aims More

From Policy to Reality: Assessment of the Successes & Challenges with WIC Cash-Value Benefit Changes in Increasing Child Access to Fruits & Vegetables

Recent cash-value benefit (CVB) increases could increase fruit and vegetable (FV) access of children in Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Yet, little is known about impacts of CVB changes on participant access to FVs, participant awareness and satisfaction of CVB changes, and implementation successes and challenges of WIC State agencies More

Longitudinal Study of Low-Income Families with Young Children: Assessing California Communities’ Experiences with Safety Net Supports Survey (ACCESS)

This is a unique opportunity to assess the longitudinal impact of COVID-19 related relief and recovery policies and existing safety net supports among economically disadvantaged California families raising young children. The goals of this study are to 1) characterize participant’s awareness and understanding of COVID-19 related relief supports such as Pandemic EBT, free school meals, More

Evaluation of Universal Free School Meals

The purpose of this study is to compare the impact of continuing Universal Free School Meals (UFSM) in Maine and California with the impact of de-implementing UFSM in control states during the 2022-23 school year. Specific aims are to examine: (1) school meal participation rates using administrative claims data from 20 states; and (2) household More

Examining the Effects of Taxes and Warning Labels on Parents’ Purchases of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Using a Choice Experiment

The purpose of this study is to conduct a discrete choice experiment to investigate whether warning labels on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) alter the effectiveness of a tax on SSBs, especially among parents who are Black, Latinx and lower income. The research team will conduct an online choice experiment with 2,700 parents and caregivers of children More

SHIFT: Testing Culturally Appropriate Messaging for Black Community to Limit Children’s Sugary-Beverage Intake and Increase Water Consumption

The project’s goal is to conduct a randomized, controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a culturally appropriate social behavior change communication campaign on sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) and water consumption among black families with children aged 0-5 years. Specific aims include: (1) Deliver a culturally appropriate social behavior change communication campaign with messages delivered through More