title: Children Receiving Free or Reduced-Price School Lunch Have Higher Food Insufficiency Rates in Summer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In 2012, 20% of households in the United States with children lacked consistent access to adequate food. Food insufficiency has significant implications for children, including poor physical and mental health outcomes, behavior problems, and low educational achievements. The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is one policy solution to reduce food insufficiency among children from low-income families.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this project was to evaluate the association between NSLP participation and household food insufficiency by examining trajectories of food insufficiency over 10 calendar months. The calendar months included both nonsummer months when school is in session and summer months when school is out of session.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study used the data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and conducted linear growth curve analyses in the multilevel modeling context. Comparisons were made between the trajectories of food insufficiencies among recipients of free or reduced-price lunch and their counterparts who are eligible but choose not to participate in the program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Heads of households that included children receiving free or reduced-price lunch (n = 6867) were more likely to be female, black, unmarried, and unemployed, and have a lower educational attainment than those whose children were eligible but did not receive free or reduced-price lunch (n = 11,396). For households participating in the NSLP, the food insufficiency rate was consistent from January to May at ∼4%, and then increased in June and July to >5%. Meanwhile, food insufficiency among eligible nonrecipients was constant throughout the year at nearly 2%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The NSLP protects households from food insufficiency. Policies should be instituted to make enrollment easier for households.
authors.affiliation: College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO; and jhuang5@slu.edu.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO; and.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barnidge
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
authors.forename: Youngmi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D063105:Food Assistance; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D062409:Lunch; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012574:Schools; D012621:Seasons; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States
keywords: National School Lunch Program; food insecurity; food insufficiency; food security; school meal programs; summer food insufficiency