IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v47y2014ip3p224-230.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Participation in the National School Lunch Program and food security: An analysis of transitions into kindergarten

Author

Listed:
  • Arteaga, Irma
  • Heflin, Colleen

Abstract

We use variation in state kindergarten eligibility dates to explore the protective effects of NSLP participation on household food security by focusing on the research question: What is the impact of the NSLP on household food insecurity among households with a kindergarten-aged child in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study — Birth cohort (ECLS-B)? Our modeling approach provides consistent support for the contention that the NLSP reduces food insecurity. Additionally, we find that paying full price for school lunch is associated with increases in food insecurity among our low-income sample. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that controlling for the reduction in child care hours among low-income households does not diminish the size of the NSLP effect. Additionally, school entry is not associated with reductions in food insecurity among families whose incomes are above 185% of the federal poverty line. Finally, our findings are robust to excluding twins. This finding is consistent with a growing literature documenting the benefits of school lunch programs but is unique for the focus on the period of school entry, at time when behavioral and cognitive patterns of school outcomes are being established for the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Arteaga, Irma & Heflin, Colleen, 2014. "Participation in the National School Lunch Program and food security: An analysis of transitions into kindergarten," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P3), pages 224-230.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:47:y:2014:i:p3:p:224-230
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.09.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740914003387
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.09.014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harold Alderman & Hans Hoogeveen & Mariacristina Rossi, 2009. "Preschool Nutrition and Subsequent Schooling Attainment: Longitudinal Evidence from Tanzania," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(2), pages 239-260, January.
    2. Elton Mykerezi & Bradford Mills, 2010. "The Impact of Food Stamp Program Participation on Household Food Insecurity," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1379-1391.
    3. Gundersen, Craig & Kreider, Brent & Pepper, John, 2012. "The impact of the National School Lunch Program on child health: A nonparametric bounds analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 166(1), pages 79-91.
    4. Helen H. Jensen, 2002. "Food Insecurity and the Food Stamp Program," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1215-1228.
    5. Craig Gundersen & Victor Oliveira, 2001. "The Food Stamp Program and Food Insufficiency," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(4), pages 875-887.
    6. Maluccio, John A. & Hoddinott, John & Behrman, Jere R. & Martorell, Reynaldo & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Stein, Aryeh D., 2006. "The impact of an experimental nutritional intervention in childhood on education among Guatemalan adults:," FCND discussion papers 207, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Nord, Mark, 2009. "Food Insecurity in Households with Children: Prevalence, Severity, and Household Characteristics," Economic Information Bulletin 58616, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    8. Nader S. Kabbani & Myra Yazbeck Kmeid, 2005. "The Role of Food Assistance in Helping Food Insecure Households Escape Hunger ," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 27(3), pages 439-445.
    9. Bhattacharya, Jayanta & Currie, Janet & Haider, Steven, 2004. "Poverty, food insecurity, and nutritional outcomes in children and adults," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 839-862, July.
    10. Gao, Xiang & Ishdorj, Ariun & Higgins, Lindsey M., 2012. "Impact of the National School Lunch Program on Children’s Food Security," 2012 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2012, Birmingham, Alabama 119778, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    11. Judi Bartfeld & Rachel Dunifon, 2006. "State-level predictors of food insecurity among households with children," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(4), pages 921-942.
    12. Janet Currie, 2003. "US Food and Nutrition Programs," NBER Chapters, in: Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, pages 199-290, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Davis, Will & Kreisman, Daniel & Musaddiq, Tareena, 2023. "The Effect of Universal Free School Meals on Child BMI," IZA Discussion Papers 16387, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Huang, Jin & Barnidge, Ellen, 2016. "Low-income Children's participation in the National School Lunch Program and household food insufficiency," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 8-14.
    3. Arteaga, Irma & Heflin, Colleen & Gable, Sara, 2016. "The impact of aging out of WIC on food security in households with children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 82-96.
    4. Marcus, Michelle & Yewell, Katherine G., 2022. "The Effect of Free School Meals on Household Food Purchases: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Irma Arteaga & Colleen Heflin & Sarah Parsons, 2019. "Design Flaws: Consequences of the Coverage Gap in Food Programs for Children at Kindergarten Entry," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 265-283, June.
    6. Ibrahim Kasujja & Hugo Melgar-Quinonez & Joweria Nambooze, 2023. "Day Scholars Food Insecurity Experience Scale-Survey Module (DSFIES-SM): Psychometric Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    7. Mst. Asma Khatun & Farjana Misu & Mohammad Amirul Islam & Sheikh Mohammad Sayem, 2022. "Relationship between Poverty and Food Security: Empirical Evidence from the Enclave Area of Rural Bangladesh," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 16(3), pages 448-467, December.
    8. Craig Gundersen, 2019. "The Right to Food in the United States: The Role of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 101(5), pages 1328-1336, October.
    9. Krista Ruffini & Orgül Öztürk & Pelin Pekgün, 2023. "In-Kind Government Assistance and Crowd-Out of Charitable Services: Evidence from Free School Meals," CESifo Working Paper Series 10763, CESifo.
    10. Craig Gundersen & David R. Just & Craig Gundersen & Emily Engelhard & Monica Hake, 2017. "The Determinants of Food Insecurity among Food Bank Clients in the United States," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 501-518, November.
    11. repec:ags:aaea22:335700 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Seung Jin Cho, 2022. "The effect of aging out of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program on food insecurity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 664-685, April.
    13. Krista Ruffini, 2022. "Universal Access to Free School Meals and Student Achievement: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(3), pages 776-820.
    14. Ralston, Katherine & Treen, Katie & Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Guthrie, Joanne, 2017. "Children’s Food Security and USDA Child Nutrition Programs," Economic Information Bulletin 259730, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    15. Martins Rodrigues, Chaiane & Giordani Bastos, Lucas & Stangherlin Cantarelli, Gustavo & Stedefeldt, Elke & Thimoteo da Cunha, Diogo & Lúcia de Freitas Saccol, Ana, 2020. "Sanitary, nutritional, and sustainable quality in food services of Brazilian early childhood education schools," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dharmasena, Senarath & Bessler, David A. & Capps, Oral, 2016. "Food environment in the United States as a complex economic system," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 163-175.
    2. Zhang, Jun & Yen, Steven T., 2017. "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and food insecurity among families with children," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 52-64.
    3. Swann, Christopher A., 2017. "Household history, SNAP participation, and food insecurity," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-9.
    4. Weerasooriya, Senal A. & Reimer, Jeffrey J., 2016. "Effects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Rural and Urban Areas in Oregon," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235751, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. repec:mpr:mprres:8084 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Otto Lenhart, 2021. "The effects of paid family leave on food insecurity—evidence from California," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 615-639, September.
    7. Rabbitt, Matthew P., 2013. "Measuring the Effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation on Food Insecurity Using a Behavioral Rasch Selection Model," UNCG Economics Working Papers 13-20, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics.
    8. Wilson, Norbert L. W. & Zheng, Yuqing & Burney, Shaheer & Kaiser, Harry M., 2016. "Do Grocery Food Sales Taxes Cause Food Insecurity?," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235324, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. James Mabli, "undated". "SNAP Participation and Urban and Rural Food Security," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 99ba5f92f8434d3084c34a7d9, Mathematica Policy Research.
    10. Huang, Jin & Barnidge, Ellen, 2016. "Low-income Children's participation in the National School Lunch Program and household food insufficiency," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 8-14.
    11. Ranney, Christine K. & Gomez, Miguel I., 2010. "Food Stamps, Food Insufficiency and Health of the Elderly," Working Papers 126968, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    12. Jun Zhang & Yanghao Wang & Steven T. Yen, 2021. "Does Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Reduce Food Insecurity among Households with Children? Evidence from the Current Population Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-15, March.
    13. Gao, Xiang & Ishdorj, Ariun & Higgins, Lindsey M., 2012. "Impact of the National School Lunch Program on Children’s Food Security," 2012 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2012, Birmingham, Alabama 119778, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    14. Li, Yiran & Mills, Bradford F. & Mykerezi, Elton, 2012. "Food Stamp Program and Food Insecurity Dynamics: Using Intra-Annual Measurements," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124681, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Charles Courtemanche & Augustine Denteh & Rusty Tchernis, 2019. "Estimating the Associations between SNAP and Food Insecurity, Obesity, and Food Purchases with Imperfect Administrative Measures of Participation," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(1), pages 202-228, July.
    16. Irma Arteaga & Colleen Heflin & Sarah Parsons, 2019. "Design Flaws: Consequences of the Coverage Gap in Food Programs for Children at Kindergarten Entry," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 265-283, June.
    17. Helen H. Jensen & Brent Kreider & Oleksandr Zhylyevskyy, 2019. "Investigating Treatment Effects of Participating Jointly in SNAP and WIC when the Treatment Is Validated Only for SNAP," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(1), pages 124-155, July.
    18. Brent Kreider & John V. Pepper & Craig Gundersen & Dean Jolliffe, 2012. "Identifying the Effects of SNAP (Food Stamps) on Child Health Outcomes When Participation Is Endogenous and Misreported," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 107(499), pages 958-975, September.
    19. Colleen M. Heflin & James P. Ziliak, 2008. "Food Insufficiency, Food Stamp Participation, and Mental Health," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(3), pages 706-727, September.
    20. Robert A. Moffitt & David C. Ribar, 2016. "Rasch Analyses of Very Low Food Security among Households and Children in the Three City Study," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 82(4), pages 1123-1146, April.
    21. Anthony G. Murray & Bradford F. Mills, 2014. "The Impact Of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program Participation On Household Energy Insecurity," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(4), pages 811-825, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:47:y:2014:i:p3:p:224-230. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.