Shifts in Sources of Food but Stable Nutritional Outcomes among Children in the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Christine Borger, Courtney Paolicelli, Lorrene Ritchie, Shannon E. Whaley, Jill DeMatteis, Brenda Sun, Thea Palmer Zimmerman, Amanda Reat and Sujata Dixit-Joshi
Additional contact information
Christine Borger: Westat, 1600 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850, USA
Courtney Paolicelli: Office of Policy Support, Food and Nutrition Service, US Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA
Lorrene Ritchie: Nutrition Policy Institute, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California, Oakland, CA 94607, USA
Shannon E. Whaley: Public Health Foundation Enterprises WIC, Irwindale, CA 91706, USA
Jill DeMatteis: Westat, 1600 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850, USA
Brenda Sun: Westat, 1600 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850, USA
Thea Palmer Zimmerman: Westat, 1600 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850, USA
Amanda Reat: Office of Policy Support, Food and Nutrition Service, US Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA
Sujata Dixit-Joshi: Westat, 1600 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 23, 1-14

Abstract: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), State governments, and school districts took unprecedented steps to mitigate the pandemic’s impact on students’ nutrition. To examine the effect of emergency responses on 6-year-old children’s nutritional outcomes, this study analyzed longitudinal data from a national study of children’s feeding practices, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children—Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2 (WIC ITFPS-2). Findings include no differences in food insecurity prevalence; however, there were shifts in sources of food, with children in the post-COVID-emergency-declaration (post-ED) group consuming more dietary energy from stores and community food programs and less from restaurants and schools than children in the pre-COVID-emergency-declaration (pre-ED) group ( p < 0.01 for all comparisons). Examination of within-person mean differences in 2015 Healthy Eating Index scores and nutrient intakes between ages 5 and 6 years revealed few statistically significant differences between the two groups: children in the post-ED group consumed slightly fewer vegetables ( p = 0.02) and less sodium ( p = 0.01) than their pre-ED peers. Findings suggest emergency efforts to maintain children’s nutrition were largely successful in the early months of the pandemic. Research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which emergency efforts contributed to these findings.

Keywords: COVID emergency food response; sources of food; school meals; low-income children’s nutrition; food security; longitudinal study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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