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- Title
Longitudinal Assessment of Children Participating in a School-Based Supplemental Nutrition Program.
- Authors
Berry, Diane S.; Amory, Richard; Clark, Terry; Hanna, Taylor
- Abstract
Approximately one in four Texas children live in food insecure households. Moreover, food insecurity and chronic hunger exert well-documented deleterious effects on children's physical and psychological health and well-being. We assessed the benefits of a school-based weekend supplemental nutrition program for children identified as at risk for chronic hunger and food insecurity. Program participants received backpacks of shelf-stable food and snacks on Friday afternoons throughout the school year. School personnel provided observations of the children's engagement in behaviors associated with food insecurity, and verbalizations about access to food at home, as well as evaluations of their emotional wellbeing and academic performance. Assessments were made before and after program participation. Repeated measures analyses revealed that, subsequent to participation, (a.) children's engagement in behaviors indicative of food insecurity decreased; (b.) the frequency of children's spontaneous verbalizations revealing insufficient access to food decreased; (c.) evaluations of children's emotional well-being increased; and (d.) academic performance evaluations improved. These effects were independent of age, and replicated across sex. The data suggest that children who take part in such backpack programs may benefit in a variety of ways. Strengths and limitations of the present research as well as recommended avenues for future exploration are discussed.
- Subjects
UNITED States; FOOD security; NUTRITION for school children; CHILD nutrition; HEALTH of school children; WELL-being; ACADEMIC achievement
- Publication
Texas Public Health Journal, 2018, Vol 70, Issue 4, p9
- ISSN
2574-5859
- Publication type
Article