Delivery Systems
U.S. Nutrition Assistance Program Participation and Childhood Obesity: The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study 2011
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; Free/Reduced Priced Lunch Program; and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children reduce food insecurity for millions of Americans with lower incomes. However, critics have questioned whether they increase obesity. This study examined whether program participation was associated with BMI z-score from kindergarten to fifth grade.Farmers’ Market Incentives for Low-Income Families: Who Uses, How Much, and Why
Focusing on participation and utilization, this research helps to assess the potential impact and contributions of farmers’ market incentive programs, often seen as means for improving nutrition and preventing disease among low-income families.Improving Diet Quality in U.S. Adults: A 30-Year Health and Economic Impact Microsimulation
Epidemiologic studies relating health outcomes to dietary patterns captured by diet quality indices have shown better quality scores associated with lower mortality and chronic disease incidence. However, changing chronic disease risk factors only alters population health over time, and initial diet quality systematically varies across the population by sociodemographic status. This study uses microsimulation to examine 30-year impacts of improved diet quality by sociodemographic group.Duration of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Participation is Associated With Children's Diet Quality at Age 3 Years
Adequate childhood nutrition contributes to prevention of chronic diseases. The supplemental foods and nutrition education provided by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, a federal program serving women, infants, and children up to age 5 years in low-income families and at nutritional risk, intend to optimize dietary intakes. This study assesses associations between duration of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children participation, early feeding practices, and children's diet quality at age 3 years.Participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and Dietary Intake in Children: Associations With Race and Ethnicity
Establishing healthy dietary intake in pediatric populations is important for prevention of chronic disease across the lifespan. Federal nutrition assistance programs can support the dietary intake of U.S. children. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participation status and dietary intake within racial and ethnic groups.Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Pricing Policies: Simulation of Minimum Price Laws and Taxes in New York City
Minimum price laws, which set a price below which a product cannot be sold, are a promising but understudied strategy for reducing the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. New York City has implemented a minimum price law for tobacco products and could consider this policy for sugar-sweetened beverages. This study projects the impacts of a sugar-sweetened beverage minimum price law among New York City adults, with effects of a sugar-sweetened beverage excise tax examined for comparison.Analysis of Public Testimony About Philadelphia's Sweetened Beverage Tax
Although interest in beverage taxes has increased in recent years, industry opposition and other challenges have limited their spread in the U.S. Because beverage tax proposals are often unsuccessful, there is limited empirical evidence to inform advocacy efforts. Philadelphia's 1.5 cent-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages provides an opportunity to understand how public testimony for and against the tax was framed in a city that ultimately passed the policy.Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption in Children: The Interplay of Household SNAP and WIC Participation
Although sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is associated with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participation, no national studies have examined the interplay between these programs. This study compares children's sugar-sweetened beverage consumption across households enrolled in one, both, or neither program.The Long-Term Effect of Food Insecurity During College on Future Food Insecurity
Food insecurity has been associated with adverse health and academic outcomes among college students. However, little is known about the long-term impacts of experiencing food insecurity during college. This study examines the impacts of college food insecurity (measured from 1999 to 2003) on future food insecurity (measured from 2015 to 2017) and whether this association differs by economic independence during college.Capturing the Healthfulness of the In-store Environments of United Kingdom Supermarket Stores Over 5 Months (January–May 2019)
Numerous environmental factors within supermarkets can influence the healthfulness of food purchases. This research aims to identify the changes in store healthfulness scores and assess the variations by store type and neighborhood deprivation using an adapted Consumer Nutrition Environment tool.Marketing to Children Inside Quick Service Restaurants: Differences by Community Demographics
In the U.S., children regularly consume foods from quick-service restaurants, but little is known about the marketing strategies currently used inside quick-service restaurants. This study aims to validate a child-focused Environmental Assessment Tool for quick-service restaurants, evaluate marketing strategies inside and on the exterior of quick-service restaurants, and examine differences by community race/ethnicity or income.Elevated Dietary Inflammation Among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients Provides Targets for Precision Public Health Intervention
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was designed to prevent food insecurity among low-income Americans and has been linked to improvements in pregnancy health, long-term child development, and criminal recidivism. However, the pursuit of food security does not ensure nutritional sufficiency, and the program has not improved diet quality or cardiometabolic mortality (i.e., heart disease, stroke, diabetes). In this study, longitudinal cohort data are used to identify by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program status the proinflammatory characteristics that predispose to chronic disease.Impact of Restricting Sugar-Sweetened Beverages From the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Children's Health
Children enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are at higher risk of poor diet, including higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages than non–Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants. This study aims to identify the impact of restricting sugar-sweetened beverage purchases with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits on children's consumption and health.Healthier Food and Beverage Interventions in Schools: Four Community Guide Systematic Reviews
Healthy eating during childhood is important for optimal growth and helps reduce the risk of obesity, which has potentially serious health consequences. Changing the school food environment may offer one way to improve students’ dietary intake. This manuscript reports 4 Community Guide systematic reviews examining the effectiveness of interventions in schools promoting healthy eating and weight.Healthier Food and Beverage Interventions in Schools: Recommendation of the Community Preventive Services Task Force
The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) issued separate findings for the 4 interventions to increase the availability of healthier meals, snacks, and beverages in schools.Health and Budgetary Impact of Achieving 10-Year U.S. Sodium Reduction Targets
This study estimates the health, economic, and budgetary impact resulting from graduated sodium reductions in the commercially produced food supply of the U.S., which are consistent with draft U.S. Food and Drug Administration voluntary guidance and correspond to Healthy People 2020 objectives and the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.Income Segregation and Access to Healthy Food
Differences in diet quality across socioeconomic groups are a key contributor to health gradient. An agent-based model was developed to explore how income segregation affects food access for poor households under idealized circumstances where the poor have the same knowledge of and preferences for healthy food as the nonpoor.Distributional Changes in U.S. Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Purchases, 2002–2014
U.S. policy actions focus on reducing sugar-sweetened beverage purchases. Yet, there are no studies on trends in overall purchase distribution and how it has changed by key subpopulations. This study examined changes in distributions of total sugar-sweetened beverage purchases and its major subtypes (regular carbonated soft drinks and fruit/sports/energy drinks) in 2002–2014 and distinguished among low, moderate, and high purchasers.Incorporation of Information-Seeking Behavior Into Food Insecurity Research
Limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods affects the health of individuals. Because of its association with chronic health conditions, addressing food insecurity may improve health outcomes and decrease health-related costs. This study explores whether and how information seeking as captured by calls made to United Way 2-1-1 can be used to identify food-insecure areas and information deserts—communities with low proportions of residents accessing government food resources but with high rates of 2-1-1 calls for emergency food resources.Reducing Both Food Insecurity and Excess Body Weight in Costa Rican Women: A Cluster Randomized Trial
The coexistence of food insecurity and excess body weight has been well documented in women. Both food insecurity and excess body weight have multiple consequences for physical and mental health. Concerns have been raised about interventions aimed to reduce food insecurity because these interventions might contribute to excess body weight, particularly in adult women. The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate an intervention to simultaneously reduce food insecurity and body weight through alleviating discouragement—which women described as feeling sad, depressed, hopeless, and lacking drive to do important activities, such as finding a job or studying more—by increasing women's empowerment.Food Access and Nutritional Status of Rural Adolescents in India: Pune Maternal Nutrition Study
The relationships among food access, foods consumed, and nutritional status and health in developing countries are not well understood. Between 2013 and 2018, differences in the rural food environment and access to food, nutritional status, and body size in the rural villages where the Pune Maternal Nutrition birth cohort was recruited were measured and analyzed.Childhood Food Involvement: Protection Against Food Insecurity in Young Adulthood
Food insecurity during young adulthood affects physical health, mental health, and academic performance. However, little is known about parental and behavioral factors during childhood that may contribute to risk of food insecurity during young adulthood.Heterogeneous Impact of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefit Changes on Food Security by Local Prices
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit amount is fixed across all 48 states (except Hawaii and Alaska), although food prices vary widely. Hence, the real value of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits can directly affect the purchasing power of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants and subsequently their food insecurity. Using the 2 most recent changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit formula in 2009 and 2013, this study examines whether the changes in benefit level affected food security of participants differentially depending on local food prices.Supermarket Purchases Over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefit Month: A Comparison Between Participants and Nonparticipants
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides financial assistance for food and beverage purchases to approximately 1 in 7 Americans, with benefits distributed once monthly. Most Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are spent early in the month, leading to decreased caloric intake later in the month. The effects of this early benefit depletion on the types of foods and beverages purchased over the course of the month is unclear.Sugary Drink Consumption Among Children by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Status
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the largest U.S. federally funded nutrition assistance program, providing food assistance to more than 40 million low-income Americans, half of whom are children. This paper examines trends in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among U.S. children and adolescents by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation status.
