Federal School Nutrition Policies, Student Food Insecurity and BMI

项目摘要 新冠肺炎以来粮食不安全加剧，粮食不安全儿童患身体疾病的风险增加 和精神健康障碍。为了应对美国各地与大流行有关的粮食安全冲击， 国会做出了几项规定，以扩大联邦营养援助计划。然而，学区 报告的财务损失是最令人担忧的，估计损失超过6.26亿美元，降低了学校的 为未来的学生服务。社区资格条款(CEP)允许学校向所有人提供免费餐饮 如果他们的学生中有40%或更多的学生有资格享受免费和降价的饭菜。CEP消除了对 用于学校使用其学区的普通资金来支付学生餐债务。与不参与的人相比 对于学校来说，那些参加CEP的学校可能更有能力在 他们可能也会有更好的资源在来年继续提供食物。建议数 这项研究将提供关于CEP如何预防未来与大流行有关的粮食不安全的国家估计 在不同地理环境下有孩子的家庭中。具体目标是：1)使用限制使用的CPS- FSS有子女家庭微数据(2012年至2019年新冠肺炎前和2020年新冠疫情后)以供估计 参加CEP的公立学校的社区儿童比例 有孩子的家庭在新冠肺炎后粮食不安全率的增加有所缓解；2)将合作伙伴关系-- FSS微数据(2012-2019年新冠肺炎之前和2020年COVID后)仅限于有孩子的家庭 他们在2010年秋季与ECLS-K：2011中的儿童家长研究队列一起进入幼儿园 已知的CEP和粮食不安全的家庭历史。估计社区层面的比例是否 参加CEP的公立学校的孩子们缓解了新冠肺炎后食品价格的增长 有孩子的家庭的不安全率；以及3)检查CEP对后新冠肺炎时代食品的影响 按种族/族裔划分的目标1和目标2的不安全差距。我们在全国范围内实现这些目标 具有代表性的、不同种族的重复横断面数据，涵盖CEP实施前后的数据 和新冠肺炎以及国家教育统计中心的学龄前儿童纵向调查 纵向研究(ECLS)计划，即ECLS-K：2011，(n=18,200)，跟踪调查来自 从幼儿园到五年级，收集关于学校用餐参与、食物不安全和 社会经济地位。我们将使用结构方程模型来测试我们在 将我们的分析结构化为自然实验。我们还将多层次和面板扩展整合到 熵平衡和数据集成，以改善这些项目中已治疗儿童和未治疗儿童之间的平衡 自然实验。这一结果有望提高我们对联邦学校营养状况的理解 援助计划可以最好地为未来的流行病和长期的经济放缓做好准备和应对。

Project Abstract Food insecurity increased since COVID-19 and children who are food insecure are at increased risk of physical and mental health disorders. In response to pandemic-related shocks to food security across the United States, Congress made several provisions to expand federal nutrition assistance programs. However, school districts reported financial loss was a top concern and estimate over $626 million lost reducing schools' abilities to serve students in the future. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows schools to offer free meals to all students if 40% or more of their students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. CEP eliminates the need for schools to use their districts' general funds to cover student meal debt. Compared to non-participating schools, those that participate in CEP may have been better positioned to provide emergency meals during the pandemic and they may also have better resources to continue serving meals in the coming year. The proposed study will provide national estimates of how CEP may protect against future pandemic-related food insecurity in households with children across diverse geographic settings. The specific aims are: 1) use restricted-use CPS- FSS microdata (pre-COVID-19 in 2012-2019 and post-COVID in 2020) of households with children to estimate whether the community-level proportion of children who attended public schools that participated in CEP attenuated post-COVID-19 increases in food insecurity rates in households with children; 2) integrate the CPS- FSS microdata (pre-COVID-19 in 2012-2019 and post-COVID in 2020) restricted to households with children who were in kindergarten in Fall 2010 with the parent study cohort of children in ECLS-K:2011 to incorporate known household history of CEP and food insecurity. Estimate whether community level proportion of children who attended public schools that participated in CEP attenuated post-COVID-19 increases in food insecurity rates in households with children; and 3) examine the impact of CEP on post-COVID-19 food insecurity disparities in Aims 1 and 2 by race/ethnicity. We achieve these objectives using nationally representative, ethnically diverse repeated cross-sectional data that span pre- and post- CEP implementation and COVID-19 and a longitudinal survey in the National Center for Education Statistics' Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) program, i.e. the ECLS-K:2011, (n=18,200) which followed children from kindergarten through at least 5th grade collecting rich data on school meal participation, food insecurity, and socioeconomic status. We will use structural equation models for that allows us to test assumptions we make in structuring our analyses as natural experiments. We also incorporate multi-level and panel extensions to entropy balancing and data integration to improve balance between `treated' and `untreated' children in these natural experiments. The results are expected to improve our understanding of how federal school nutrition assistance programs can best prepare and respond to future pandemics and prolonged economic slow-downs.