Resource Type: Journal Article

“It’s just not worth it anymore”: A Mixed Methods Study Examining the Impact of Reinstating Reimbursement Tiers in the Child and Adult Care Food Program

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This study aimed to assess impacts of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) reinstatement of tiered reimbursements among family child care home (FCCH) providers, sponsors, and families in California. Irrespective of tier, surveyed providers reported that the reinstated, tiered reimbursements were insufficient (92.4%), resulting in reduced food variety (39.1%) and quality (14.8%), and More

SNAP participation and the healthfulness of food purchased by households with children during the pandemic

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Changes in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic included emergency benefit allotments and operation waivers. Using five expenditure-based measures of the nutritional quality of food purchases, we tested whether changes in SNAP during the first year of the pandemic were associated with better nutritional quality of food purchases More

SNAP Decisions: Qualitative Research on the Perceived Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefit Changes on Food Purchases

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Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants experienced changes in benefits alongside the evolving social and economic environment. Understanding how these factors may have influenced food purchasing decisions can clarify SNAP’s role in shaping diet quality. This study aimed to document SNAP participants’ perspectives on how benefit changes during the pandemic influenced More

A Pediatric Perspective on the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines

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Clear, evidence-based guidance on what foods and beverages children and adolescents should consume—and in what amounts—is foundational for promoting healthy growth and preventing diet-related chronic disease across the life course. Yet many children and adolescents in the US continue to have diets of poor nutritional quality. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), issued every 5 More

An Electronic Health Record-based Intervention to Facilitate Primary Care Referrals to WIC: A Retrospective Cohort Study

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Despite benefits of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), many eligible children remain unenrolled. This study evaluated responses to an electronic health record (EHR)-embedded federal nutrition program (FNP) participation screening and WIC referral tool implemented within eight clinics during <5-year-well visits. Among 5,385 children, mean age at initial screening was More

Assessing Caregiver Comfort With Linking the Health Care System and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

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Integrating WIC referrals within clinical care may improve WIC uptake, data sharing, and nutrition/health outcomes, but little research has explored family perspectives about information exchange between health care providers and WIC regarding their child’s health. Better understanding family perceptions of information exchange could facilitate improvements in the design of effective, family-centered referral pathways. This study More

Beyond Added Sugar Reduction: A Narrative Review of Policies to Address Nonsugar Sweeteners

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This perspective provides policymakers, advocates and researchers with a description of proposed and enacted policies that assist consumers in identifying products with nonsugar sweeteners (NSS) and/or reduce NSS exposure. Consumption of NSS is associated with multiple chronic diseases. NSS exposure is increasing as food and beverage manufacturers replace added sugars with NSS. This narrative review More

Automating WIC Screening and Enrollment in Pediatric Primary Care

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Many eligible families face barriers to WIC enrollment, including administrative challenges (such as navigating eligibility criteria) and logistical issues (such as a lack of transportation to in-person appointments and insufficient time for attending enrollment appointments). Pediatricians in academic medical systems are well positioned to promote WIC enrollment because of the frequency of their well-child visits More

Identifying barriers and facilitators of the implementation of nutrition guidelines in food banks using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research

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This qualitative study used the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to systematically identify the barriers and facilitators to implementing the Healthy Eating Research Nutrition Guidelines for the Charitable Food System (HER Guidelines) in a national sample of U.S. food banks. In-depth interviews were conducted among a random sample of food banks that reported implementing More

The Role of Farm to School Programs in Promoting Healthy School Food Environments in the United States: A Scoping Review of Child-Level Outcomes

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Most children and adolescents in the U.S. fall short of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, with disparities by race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geography. As K-12 students consume much of their daily nutrition from school meals, this scoping review sought to document reported impacts of Farm to School (F2S) programs on child-level food-related outcomes More