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Children’s Food Security and USDA Child Nutrition Programs

Author

Listed:
  • Ralston, Katherine
  • Treen, Katie
  • Coleman-Jensen, Alisha
  • Guthrie, Joanne

Abstract

USDA’s child nutrition programs (National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program, and Child and Adult Care Food Program) have as goals to improve food security and provide children with a regular source of nutritious meals. In this report, we present updated statistics on food insecurity among school-age children from the Food Security Supplement to the Current Population Survey for 2014 and 2015. We then summarize recent research on the effects of child nutrition programs on children’s food security and diets and discuss recent developments in nutrition assistance for school-age children. Studies that account for the greater likelihood of participation in these programs among children from food-insecure households find that school meal programs reduce food insecurity among children. Child nutrition programs also contribute to diet quality and academic performance for children from low-income and food-insecure households.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uersib:259730
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.259730
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    14. Ralston, Katherine & Newman, Constance, 2015. "School Meals in Transition," Economic Information Bulletin 262115, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    15. Ann M. Collins & Ronette Briefel & Jacob Alex Klerman & Gretchen Rowe & Anne Wolf & Christopher W. Logan & Anne Gordon & Carrie Wolfson & Ayesha Enver & Cheryl Owens & Charlotte Cabili & Stephen Bell, "undated". "Summary of Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children: Evaluation Findings for the Full Implementation Year 2012," Mathematica Policy Research Reports f2d019d4c8da4b828914b8421, Mathematica Policy Research.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Elizabeth C. Gearan & Kelley Monzella & Leah Jennings & Mary Kay Fox, "undated". "Differences in Diet Quality between School Lunch Participants and Nonparticipants in the United States by Income and Race," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 804e2d61138241eba62359e6f, Mathematica Policy Research.
    2. Becca B.R. Jablonski & Joy Casnovsky & Jill K. Clark & Rebecca Cleary & Beth Feingold & Darcy Freedman & Steven Gray & Xiaobo Romeiko & Laura Schmitt Olabisi & Mariana Torres & Alexandra E. van den Be, 2021. "Emergency Food Provision for Children and Families during the COVID‐19 Pandemic: Examples from Five U.S. Cities," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 169-184, March.
    3. John de New & David Ribar & Christopher Ryan & Clement Wong, 2020. "Financial Outcomes in Adolescence and Early Adulthood in Australian Longitudinal Data," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 53(1), pages 126-138, March.
    4. Sarah Forrestal & Elizabeth Potamites & Joanne Guthrie & Nora Paxton, "undated". "Associations among Food Security, School Meal Participation, and Students’ Diet Quality in the First School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 34ded49c2a464d57857a407d4, Mathematica Policy Research.
    5. 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.
    6. Laura C. Hopkins & Amy R. Sharn & Daniel Remley & Heather Schier & Regan Olak & Dorsena Drakeford & Cara Pannell & Carolyn Gunther, 2021. "Caregiver Perceptions of Environmental Facilitators and Barriers to Healthy Eating and Active Living during the Summer: Results from the Project SWEAT Sub-Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-15, October.
    7. Paluta, Lauren & Kaiser, Michelle L. & Huber-Krum, Sarah & Wheeler, Jack, 2019. "Evaluating the impact of a healthy corner store initiative on food access domains," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 24-32.
    8. 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.
    9. Toossi, Saied & Todd, Jessica E. & Guthrie, Joanne & Ollinger, Michael, 2024. "The National School Lunch Program: Background, Trends, and Issues, 2024 Edition," Economic Information Bulletin 347312, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    10. Gassman-Pines, Anna & Bellows, Laura & Copeland, William E. & Hoyle, Rick H. & Odgers, Candice L., 2023. "Day-to-day variation in adolescent food insecurity," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    11. Naomi Nichele Duke, 2021. "Adolescent-Reported Food Insecurity: Correlates of Dietary Intake and School Lunch Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-18, June.

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