Food and Nutrition Assistance Research Database

The RIDGE Program summarizes research findings of projects that were awarded 1-year grants through its partner institutions. All projects were conducted under research grants from ERS, and the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of ERS or USDA. For more information about publications or other project outputs for a specific RIDGE study, contact the investigator or research center that awarded the grant. For a customized list of RIDGE projects and summaries, search by keyword(s), project, research center, investigator, or year:

Project:Associations Among Food Insecurity, Food Assistance Programs, and Child Development

Few studies have evaluated the link between food insecurity
and children’s development. The Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC) and the National School Lunch
Program (NSLP) are Federal programs that have the
potential to reduce food insecurity among children and
to influence children’s development. This project examined
ways in which participation in these programs and
levels of food insecurity operate together to influence
measures of well-being among children.

Specifically, the authors examined four research questions:
(1) What are the roles of WIC and the NSLP in
alleviating food insecurity? (2) What is the impact of
food insecurity on the development of toddlers and
school-aged children? (3) What is the effect of participation
in NSLP and WIC on children, and is this effect
mediated by levels of food insecurity? and (4) Does
participation in WIC or NSLP moderate the effects of
food insecurity on children? The results from this
project provide insight into the role of two important
food assistance programs in alleviating food insecurity
and influencing the well-being of U.S. children.

The effect of food insecurity on the development of
U.S. children has not been widely researched, though
previous research has found food insufficiency to be
associated with adverse outcomes among children.
Previous research on the WIC program has found positive
effects of participation in WIC on infant birth
weight, reduced Medicaid expenditures, and children’s
nutritional intake. Although there has been little
research on the effects of WIC participation on child
adjustment and age-appropriate achievement measures,
studies have found that WIC has positive effects on
verbal ability and infant temperament. Many of the
available evaluations of the NSLP focus on the relationship
between participating in the program and
increased nutrient intake.

The study used data from the 1997 Child Development
Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics
(CDS-PSID), a longitudinal study of a representative
sample of the U.S. population. The analyses focus on
two samples of children: those under 2 years old in
1997, for whom there are measures of WIC participation
in 1997; and those 6-12 years old in 1997, for
whom there are measures of participation in the NSLP
in 1997.

The authors used logistic regression and Ordinary
Least Squares (OLS) methods to estimate the relationships
of interest. They also employed methodological
techniques to address the selection issues that may bias
estimates of the effects of food assistance programs on
individual outcomes.

The authors did not find a significant association
between participation in the WIC program and food
insecurity. While they did observe a positive association
between participation in NSLP and food insecurity,
the association did not hold when they addressed
the selection issue.

The study also estimated the effect of food insecurity
on the development of toddlers and school-aged children.
Among younger children, food insecurity was
associated with higher levels of difficult temperament.
Food insecurity was also associated with lower levels
of positive behavior among older children. This association
persisted in the restricted sample models where
selection was addressed. These results suggest that
while food insecurity may not affect cognitive
outcomes, it does affect the social behaviors of
children.

The research investigated the effects of NSLP and
WIC participation on child outcomes and examined
the potential for these effects to be mediated by levels
of food insecurity. The authors found no association
between participation in the WIC program and early
child outcomes. They found evidence of negative associations
between participating in NSLP and achievement,
behavior, and health. However, when the authors
controlled for selection bias, NSLP participation no
longer had significant negative effects on child
outcomes. These results demonstrate that selection
bias must be addressed in any policy evaluation of the
effects of NSLP.

The authors did not find evidence that food insecurity
had a mediating effect on the influence of food assistance
programs on children. This result suggests that,
at least in this sample of children, the effects of participation
in food assistance programs on children are not
mediated by coexisting levels of food insecurity.
Finally, the authors tested whether participation in
WIC or NSLP moderated the effects of food insecurity
on children. Among older children, they found
evidence of one moderating relationship. Logistic
regression results indicate that food insecurity and
participation in NSLP increase the odds of having
health limitations. However, for children in foodinsecure
households participating in NSLP, the odds of
health limitations are significantly reduced. Thus,
participation in NSLP may help protect children from
the detrimental effects of food insecurity.