IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v150y2016icp8-14.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Low-income Children's participation in the National School Lunch Program and household food insufficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Huang, Jin
  • Barnidge, Ellen

Abstract

Assessing the impact of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) on household food insufficiency is critical to improve the implementation of public food assistance and to improve the nutrition intake of low-income children and their families. To examine the association of receiving free/reduced-price lunch from the NSLP with household food insufficiency among low-income children and their families in the United States, the study used data from four longitudinal panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP; 1996, 2001, 2004, and 2008), which collected information on household food insufficiency covering both summer and non-summer months. The sample included 15, 241 households with at least one child (aged 5–18) receiving free/reduced-price lunch from the NSLP. A dichotomous measure describes whether households have sufficient food to eat in the observed months. Fixed-effects regression analysis suggests that the food insufficiency rate is .7 (95%CI: .1, 1.2) percentage points higher in summer months among NSLP recipients. Since low-income families cannot participate in the NSLP in summer when the school is not in session, the result indicates the NSLP participation is associated with a reduction of food insufficiency risk by nearly 14%. The NSLP plays a significant role to protect low-income children and their families from food insufficiency. It is important to increase access to school meal programs among children at risk of food insufficiency in order to ensure adequate nutrition and to mitigate the health problems associated with malnourishment among children.

Suggested Citation

  • Huang, Jin & Barnidge, Ellen, 2016. "Low-income Children's participation in the National School Lunch Program and household food insufficiency," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 8-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:150:y:2016:i:c:p:8-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.12.020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795361530280X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.12.020?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gundersen, Craig & Kreider, Brent & Pepper, John, 2012. "The impact of the National School Lunch Program on child health: A nonparametric bounds analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 166(1), pages 79-91.
    2. Nord, Mark & Golla, Anne Marie, 2009. "Does SNAP Decrease Food Insecurity? Untangling the Self-Selection Effect," Economic Research Report 55955, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Arteaga, Irma & Heflin, Colleen, 2014. "Participation in the National School Lunch Program and food security: An analysis of transitions into kindergarten," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P3), pages 224-230.
    4. Nader S. Kabbani & Myra Yazbeck Kmeid, 2005. "The Role of Food Assistance in Helping Food Insecure Households Escape Hunger ," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 27(3), pages 439-445.
    5. Gao, Xiang & Ishdorj, Ariun & Higgins, Lindsey M., 2012. "Impact of the National School Lunch Program on Children’s Food Security," 2012 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2012, Birmingham, Alabama 119778, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    6. Bartfeld, Judi & Kim, Myoung & Ryu, Jeong Hee & Ahn, Hong-Min, 2009. "The School Breakfast Program: Participation and Impacts," Contractor and Cooperator Reports 292074, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Judi Bartfeld & Rachel Dunifon, 2006. "State-level predictors of food insecurity among households with children," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(4), pages 921-942.
    8. repec:mpr:mprres:5077 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Gregory, Christian & Singh, Anita, 2014. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2013," Economic Research Report 183589, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yingru Li & Dapeng Li & Christian King, 2022. "Food Insufficiency among Job-Loss Households during the Pandemic: The Role of Food Assistance Programs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-14, November.
    2. repec:ags:aaea22:335700 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Thorpe, Karen & Potia, Azhar Hussain & Searle, Bonnie & Van Halen, Olivia & Lakeman, Nicole & Oakes, Candice & Harris, Holly & Staton, Sally, 2022. "Meal provision in early childhood education and care programs: Association with geographic disadvantage, social disadvantage, cost, and market competition in an Australian population," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    4. Krista Ruffini, 2022. "Universal Access to Free School Meals and Student Achievement: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(3), pages 776-820.
    5. Ralston, Katherine & Treen, Katie & Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Guthrie, Joanne, 2017. "Children’s Food Security and USDA Child Nutrition Programs," Economic Information Bulletin 259730, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    6. Davis, Will & Kreisman, Daniel & Musaddiq, Tareena, 2023. "The Effect of Universal Free School Meals on Child BMI," IZA Discussion Papers 16387, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Terrinieka W Powell & Jill A Rabinowitz & Michelle R Kaufman & Adam J Milam & Kelly Benke & Danielle Y Sisto & George Uhl & Brion S Maher & Nicholas S Ialongo, 2019. "Testing gene by community disadvantage moderation of sexual health outcomes among urban women," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-12, October.
    8. Jackson, Dylan B. & Johnson, Kecia R. & Vaughn, Michael G. & Hinton, Marissa E., 2019. "The role of neighborhoods in household food insufficiency: Considering interactions between physical disorder, low social capital, violence, and perceptions of danger," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 58-67.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ralston, Katherine & Treen, Katie & Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Guthrie, Joanne, 2017. "Children’s Food Security and USDA Child Nutrition Programs," Economic Information Bulletin 259730, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Arteaga, Irma & Heflin, Colleen, 2014. "Participation in the National School Lunch Program and food security: An analysis of transitions into kindergarten," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P3), pages 224-230.
    3. Irma Arteaga & Colleen Heflin & Sarah Parsons, 2019. "Design Flaws: Consequences of the Coverage Gap in Food Programs for Children at Kindergarten Entry," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 265-283, June.
    4. Craig Gundersen & David R. Just & Craig Gundersen & Emily Engelhard & Monica Hake, 2017. "The Determinants of Food Insecurity among Food Bank Clients in the United States," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 501-518, November.
    5. Dharmasena, Senarath & Bessler, David A. & Capps, Oral, 2016. "Food environment in the United States as a complex economic system," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 163-175.
    6. Zhang, Jun & Yen, Steven T., 2017. "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and food insecurity among families with children," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 52-64.
    7. Ana McCormick Myers & Matthew A. Painter, 2017. "Food insecurity in the United States of America: an examination of race/ethnicity and nativity," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(6), pages 1419-1432, December.
    8. Craig Gundersen & David R. Just & Robert B. Nielsen & Martin C. Seay & Melissa J. Wilmarth, 2017. "Does Prior Government Assistance Reduce Food or Housing Assistance among Low-Income and Food Insecure Households?," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 598-630, November.
    9. James Mabli, "undated". "SNAP Participation, Food Security, and Geographic Access to Food," Mathematica Policy Research Reports da75fa3a960c45b08490c8f14, Mathematica Policy Research.
    10. Ranney, Christine K. & Gomez, Miguel I., 2010. "Food Stamps, Food Insufficiency and Health of the Elderly," Working Papers 126968, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    11. Jeffrey H Dorfman & Christian Gregory & Zhongyuan Liu & Ran Huo, 2019. "Re-Examining the SNAP Benefit Cycle Allowing for Heterogeneity," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 41(3), pages 404-433.
    12. Weerasooriya, Senal A. & Reimer, Jeffrey J., 2016. "Effects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Rural and Urban Areas in Oregon," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235751, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. repec:mpr:mprres:8084 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Helen H. Jensen & Brent Kreider & Oleksandr Zhylyevskyy, 2019. "Investigating Treatment Effects of Participating Jointly in SNAP and WIC when the Treatment Is Validated Only for SNAP," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(1), pages 124-155, July.
    15. Seung Jin Cho, 2022. "The effect of aging out of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program on food insecurity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 664-685, April.
    16. James Mabli & Jim Ohls & Lisa Dragoset & Laura Castner & Betsy Santos, "undated". "Measuring the Effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participation on Food Security," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 69d901432c7a46779666a240a, Mathematica Policy Research.
    17. Ibrahim Kasujja & Hugo Melgar-Quinonez & Joweria Nambooze, 2023. "Day Scholars Food Insecurity Experience Scale-Survey Module (DSFIES-SM): Psychometric Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    18. Jacob Alex Klerman & Anne Wolf & Ann Collins & Stephen Bell & Ronette Briefel, 2017. "The Effects the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children Demonstration has on Children’s Food Security," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 39(3), pages 516-532.
    19. Agustina Laurito & Amy Ellen Schwartz, 2019. "Does School Lunch Fill the “SNAP Gap” at the End of the Month?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(1), pages 49-82, July.
    20. Aaron Yelowitz, 2017. "Local housing costs and basic household needs," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 901-923, May.
    21. Robert B. Nielsen & Martin C. Seay & Melissa J. Wilmarth, 2018. "The Receipt of Government Food Assistance: Differences Between Metro and Non-Metro Households," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 117-131, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:150:y:2016:i:c:p:8-14. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.