Nutrition Policy Research

Reports

• "Analysis of Proposed Changes to SNAP Eligibility and Benefit Determination in the 2013 Farm Bill and Comparison of Cardiometabolic Health Status for SNAP Participants and Low-Income Nonparticipants." Joshua Leftin, Allison Dodd, Kai Filion, Rebecca Wang, Andrew Gothro, and Karen Cunnyngham, August 2013. The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts, is conducting a health impact assessment intended to inform congressional consideration of changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) included as part of the 2013 Farm Bill reauthorization. The analysis used SNAP program data on the number of participating households and individuals and SNAP benefit amounts by month and state to estimate the potential effects of converting SNAP to a block grant program that reverts total benefits to 2008 levels. The analysis found that had state block grants been implemented in fiscal year 2012, total SNAP benefits would have been 53.6 percent lower than they were, potentially decreasing average SNAP monthly household benefits by $149.
• "Measuring the Effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participation on Food Security." James Mabli, Jim Ohls, Lisa Dragoset, Laura Castner, and Besty Santos, August 2013. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food assistance to more than 47 million low-income Americans every month. It aims to reduce hunger by facilitating beneficiaries’ access to enough food for a healthy, active lifestyle, otherwise known as "food security." Our study conducted for the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that SNAP participation is associated with improved food security. The study is the largest and most rigorous one to date examining the effect of SNAP on food security. Read the release. Fact sheet.
• "Performance Measurement for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Modernization Initiaties: Integrated Report." Laura Castner, Amy Wodarek O'Reilly, Kevin Conway, Maura Bardos, and Emily Sama-Miller, December 2012. This report integrates and summarizes findings on performance measurement for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program modernization initiatives across the 45 study states including how they monitor and measure performance. It also includes suggestions for performance measures and standards to consider.
• "Performance Measurement for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Modernization Initiatives: State Profiles Report." Laura Castner, Amy Wodarek O'Reilly, Kevin Conway, Maura Bardos, and Emily Sama-Miller, December 2012. This report provides details on how each of the 45 states measures performance modernization initiatives for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and describes the performance standards in use.
• "School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study-IV: Summary of Findings." Mary Kay Fox and Elizabeth Condon, November 2012. In a study conducted for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service, findings from the fourth School Nutrition Dietary Assessment (SNDA-IV) reveal that schools have made substantial progress toward meeting the federal standard for saturated fat in school lunches. Many schools that did not meet the standard came close (within 10 percent). To see all the reports from this study click here.
• "Characteristics and Dietary Patterns of Healthy and Less-Healthy Eaters in the Low-Income Population." Yonatan Ben-Shalom, Mary Kay Fox, and P.K. Newby, February 2012. This report reviews sociodemographic and dietary characteristics of individuals in each group and describes their distinct dietary patterns, as identified through a cluster analysis of dietary intake. Individuals were classified as healthy or less-healthy eaters according to their scores on the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2005. Among adults, characteristics associated with healthy eating include being female, older than 60, and foreign-born. Among children, they include being ages 2 to 5 and living in a household with a foreign-born individual. In addition, both child and adult healthy eaters were more likely than less-healthy eaters to eat breakfast, eat three meals daily, and consume fruits and vegetables. Report Summary.

Journal Articles

• "Disparities in Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened and Other Beverages by Race/Ethnicity and Obesity Status Among United States Schoolchildren." Allison Hedley Dodd, Ronette Briefel, Charlotte Cabili, Ander Wilson, and Mary Kay Crepinsek. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, May 2013 (subscription required). This paper used data from the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study to identify disparities by race/ethnicity and obesity status in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and other beverages among United States schoolchildren. The analysis found that beverage consumption patterns did not substantially differ across weight status groups, but they differed by race/ethnicity in the home. Non-Hispanic black elementary schoolchildren consumed sugar-sweetened beverages other than soda more often and unflavored, low-fat milk less often at home than non-Hispanic white schoolchildren.
• "Reducing Calories and Added Sugars by Improving Children's Beverage Choices." Ronette R. Briefel, Ander Wilson, Charlotte Cabili, and Allison Hedley Dodd. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, February 2013 (subscription required). This study estimated the mean calories from added sugars saved by switching sugar-sweetened beverages (including soda, fruit-flavored drinks, and sport drinks) and flavored milks consumed to unflavored low-fat milk (less than 1 percent fat) at meals and water between meals. These changes, which were simulated to demonstrate the potential effects of improving school nutrition policies, translated to a mean of 205 calories or a 10 percent savings in energy intake across all students (8 percent among children in elementary school and 11 percent in middle and high schools).
• "Publishing Nutrition Research: A Review of Multivariate Techniques Part 2: Analysis of Variance." Jeffrey E. Harris, Patricia M. Sheean, Philip M. Gleason, Barbara Bruemmer, and Carol Boushey. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, January 2012 (subscription required).This article is the eighth in a series exploring the importance of research design, statistical analysis, and epidemiology in nutrition and dietetics research. It is the second article in that series focused on multivariate statistical analytical techniques. This review examines the statistical technique of analysis of variance (ANOVA), from its simplest form to multivariate applications. It addresses all these applications and includes hypothetical and real examples from the field of dietetics.
• "Publishing Nutrition Research: A Review of Multivariate Techniques Part 1." Patricia M. Sheean, Barbara Bruemmer, Philip Gleason, Jeffrey Harris, Carol Boushey, and Linda Van Horn. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, January 2011 (subscription required). This article is the seventh in a series reviewing the importance of research design, analyses, and epidemiology in the conduct, interpretation, and publication of nutrition research. This review introduces the more commonly used multivariate techniques including linear and logistic regression (simple and multiple) and survival analyses (Kaplan Meier plots and Cox regression).
• Findings from the Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) 2008, a follow up to Mathematica’s groundbreaking 2002 study, are presented in a special supplement to the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (subscription required). Senior fellow Ronette Briefel serves as guest editor.

  "New Findings from the Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study: Data to Inform Action." Ronette R. Briefel. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, December 2010. This guest editorial describes findings from FITS 2008, places the results in the context of other large-scale nutrition studies for infants and toddlers, and examines the potential impact on policymakers’ efforts to address childhood obesity.

  "The Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study 2008: Study Design and Methods." Ronette R. Briefel, Laura M. Kalb, Elizabeth Condon, Denise M. Deming, Nancy A. Clusen, Mary Kay Fox, Lisa Harnack, Erin Gemmill, Mary Stevens, Kathleen C. Reidy. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, December 2010. This article describes the study design, data collection methods, 24-hour dietary recall protocol, and sample characteristics.

  "Food Consumption Patterns of Young Preschoolers: Are They Starting Off On the Right Path?" Mary Kay Fox. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, December 2010. This article describes the dietary habits of 2- and 3-year-olds. Almost three-quarters of children consumed fruit, and about 70 percent ate vegetables at least once in a day. However, french fries and other fried potatoes were the most commonly eaten vegetable, and about 85 percent consumed some type of sweetened beverage, dessert, sweet, or salty snack in a day.

  "Nutrient Intakes of US Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers Meet or Exceed Dietary Reference Intakes." Nancy F. Butte, Mary Kay Fox, Ronette R. Briefel, Anna Maria Siega-Riz, Johanna T. Dwyer, Denise M. Deming, and Kathleen C. Reidy. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, December 2010. This article notes that nutrient intakes are adequate for the majority of U.S. infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, except for a small but important proportion of infants at risk for inadequate iron and zinc intakes.

  "Food Consumption Patterns of Infants and Toddlers: Where Are We Now?" Anna Maria Siega-Riz, Denise M. Deming, Kathleen C. Reidy, Mary Kay Fox, Elizabeth Condon, and Ronette R. Briefel. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, December 2010. Compared to the 2002 FITS study, FITS 2008 shows a higher percentage of infants are being breastfed, and fewer infants are consuming infant cereal. The percentage of infants and toddlers consuming desserts or candy, sweetened beverages, and salty snacks was significantly lower in 2008; however, fruit and vegetable consumption also remains lower than desired.

Issue Briefs

• "Performance Measurement for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Modernization Initiatives." Laura Castner, Amy Wodarek O'Reilly, Kevin Conway, Maura Bardos, and Emily Sama-Miller, December 2012. This study for the USDA Food and Nutrition Service was conducted to determine existing measures for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program modernization initiatives, including call centers, online systems, document imaging, kiosks, partnering, waiving the face-to-face interview, shortened interviews, and online expedited applications.
• "Summary of the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (SEBTC): Evaluation Findings for Proof-of-Concept Year." Ann M. Collins, Ronette Briefel, Jacob Alex Klerman, Stephen Bell, Jeanne Bellotti, Christopher W. Logan, Anne Gordon, Anne Wolf, Gretchen Rowe, Steven M. McLaughlin, Ayesha enver, Meena Fernandes, Carrie Wolfson, Marina Komarovsky, Charlotte Cabili, and Cheryl Owens, November 2012. The Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (SEBTC), a demonstration by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, aims to mitigate summer child food insecurity by leveraging existing electronic benefit transfer technologies used by the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In the first year of the demonstration (2011), based on 5,000 households in five sites, researchers found significant reductions in the prevalence of food insecurity and very low food security among children. The second year (2012) included 14 sites and approximately 27,000 households with eligible children in the evaluation. Full report.
• "Reaching Those in Need: State Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation Rates in 2009." Karen E. Cunnyngham, December 2011. This document presents estimates of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation rates for all eligible people and for the working poor, by state, for fiscal year 2009. Eighteen states had rates that were significantly higher (in a statistical sense) than the national rate, and 12 states had rates that were significantly lower. Among the regions, the Midwest Region had the highest participation rate—82 percent—a rate significantly higher than all of the other regions. The Western Region's participation rate of 63 percent was significantly lower than the rates for all of the other regions.
• "Who Picks Up the Tab? Reducing Payment Errors in School Nutrition Programs." Trends in Nutrition Policy Issue Brief #3. Michael Ponza, Philip Gleason, Lara Hulsey, and Quinn Moore, February 2009. Over the years, concern has mounted that many of the more than 26 million children certified to receive free or reduced-price meals may be ineligible for these benefits. This brief looks at the issue of reducing payment errors in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP). Mathematica’s study, the first effort to quantify the amounts and rates of improper payments in these programs, looked at two types of certification errors: (1) household reporting errors, which occur when households misreport information on their applications; and (2) administrative errors, which occur when districts make mistakes in processing applications, determining eligibility, or recording certification status. For all students who applied for school meal benefits or were directly certified, about one in five were either incorrectly deemed eligible for the level of benefits they were approved for, or erroneously denied benefits. In addition, among those certified in error, overcertification was about twice as likely as undercertification. For both the NSLP and SBP, about nine percent of total meal reimbursements were erroneous because of certification error.
• "I Am Moving, I Am Learning (IM/IL): Early Findings from the Implementation of an Obesity Prevention Enhancement in Head Start Region III." Daniel Finkelstein, Robert Whitaker, Elaine Hill, Mary Kay Fox, Linda Mendenko, and Kimberly Boller, December 2008. I Am Moving, I Am Learning is a Head Start program enhancement for integrating obesity prevention activities into daily practices. This research brief, based on Mathematica’s interim report, documents the findings from a survey of 53 Head Start programs that participated in training in Region III in spring of 2006. It describes early implementation of IM/IL, including successes, challenges, and sustainability.

Working Papers

• "Technical Working Paper: Creation of the 2012 Baseline of the 2009 MATH SIPP+ Microsimulation Model and Database." Joel Smith and Becca Wang, March 2012. This report documents the process of updating an existing microsimulation model and database designed to help policymakers measure the effects of policy reforms to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). The updated model enables users to estimate the effects of policy changes based on the most current SNAP eligibility rules (fiscal year 2012), rather than the rules in effect when the data were collected (fiscal year 2009). The updated model includes additional enhancements, including expansions to the simulation of public assistance.

Other

• Using American Community Survey Data to Expand Access to the School Meal Programs. Various Authros. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, Allen Schirm and Nancy Kirkendall, editors, 2012. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service asked the National Academies' Committee on National Statistics and Food and Nutrition Board to convene a panel of experts to estimate the number of students eligible for free and reduced-price meals. The panel, chaired by Allen Schirm, vice president and director of methods, will investigate the technical and operational feasibility of using data from the continuous American Community Survey (ACS) for schools and districts under a special provision for providing free meals to all students in participating schools. This final report presents the panel's findings and recommendations. Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach for using ACS data, the panel developed more tailored procedures that districts could implement to expand access to school meal programs.
• "Planning a WIC Research Agenda." Barbara Devaney, January 2011. This report summarizes workshop presentations and discussions by the Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board Committee, reviewing research on the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food packages, the third-largest food assistance program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
• "WIC Turns 35: Program Effectiveness and Future Directions." Barbara Devaney. In Childhood Programs and Practices in the First Decade of Life, edited by Arthur J. Reynolds, Arthur J. Rolnick, Michelle M. Englund, and Judy A. Temple, August 2010. The author reviews the history of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), describes WIC eligibility and benefits, presents findings from major WIC evaluations, and offers thoughts on the future WIC research agenda.
• "Developing and Evaluating Methods for Using American Community Survey Data to Support the School Meals Program: Interim Report." Allen Schirm and Nancy Kirkendall, editors, 2010. This monograph describes the planned work of a National Research Council expert panel, chaired by Allen Schirm, to study technical and operational issues in using data from the American Community Survey—the continuous survey that has replaced the decennial census long-form survey—to obtain estimates of students eligible for free and reduced-price school meals. These estimates could be used to determine federal reimbursements to districts for schools that eliminate program applications and provide free meals to all students.