@article{f1801712a0754deda2356dd209e8a2f9,
title = "Patterns of Food Assistance Program Participation, Food Insecurity, and Pantry Use among U.S. Households with Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic",
abstract = "This study aims to describe differences in participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women and Children (WIC), and school meal programs by household characteristics prior to and during the pandemic, and to examine the association of program participation with food security status and food pantry use. We analyze secondary data (n = 470) from an online survey collected in July/August 2020 using weighted multiple logistic regression models. Participation in SNAP declined among households with children in the first four months of the pandemic, while participation in WIC increased slightly, and participation in school meals remained unchanged. There were significant differences in SNAP, WIC, and school meal programs use by race/ethnicity, income, and urbanicity before and during the pandemic. Food insecurity prevalence was higher among SNAP participants at both periods but the gap between participants and non-participants was smaller during the pandemic. Pantry use and food insecurity rates were consistently higher among federal nutrition assistance program participants, possibly suggesting unmet food needs. These results highlight the need for increased program benefits and improved access to food, particularly during periods of hardship.",
keywords = "COVID-19, Child food security, Federal nutrition assistance programs",
author = "Kaitlyn Harper and Belarmino, {Emily H.} and Francesco Acciai and Farryl Bertmann and Punam Ohri-Vachaspati",
note = "Funding Information: Funding: This research was supported by a COVID-19 seed grant from the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University{\textquoteright}s and by the university{\textquoteright}s Investigator Research Funds. Additionally, this research was supported by a Directed Research grant from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. The study sponsors had no role in study design, implementation, analysis, or write-up. Funding Information: This research was supported by a COVID-19 seed grant from the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University?s and by the university?s Investigator Research Funds. Additionally, this research was supported by a Directed Research grant from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. The study sponsors had no role in study design, implementation, analysis, or write-up. This research is conducted as part of the National Food Access and COVID Research Team (NFACT). NFACT is a national collaboration of researchers committed to rigorous, comparative, and timely food access research during the time of COVID-19. We do this through collaborative, open access research that prioritizes communication to key decision-makers while building our scientific understanding of food system behaviors and policies. To learn more visit www.nfactresearch.org (Accessed on 1 June 2021). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",
year = "2022",
month = mar,
day = "1",
doi = "10.3390/nu14050988",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "14",
journal = "Nutrients",
issn = "2072-6643",
publisher = "Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)",
number = "5",
}