Report Publish Date: March 7, 2023
To write this journal article, authors reviewed existing literature to see whether the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program improves children’s health and wellbeing.
The authors did not find a strong association between the Child and Adult Care Food Program, or CACFP, and children’s health. They did find some evidence that CACFP reduces children’s risk of being underweight and experiencing food insecurity and exposes them to healthier food environments. “However,” they write, “the evidence to date is limited and has had to rely on weak study designs and measurement approaches.”
CACFP supports young children’s food and nutrition needs by reimbursing childcare providers for meals and snacks. We have a lot of evidence to show that other food assistance programs, with nutritional standards, improve children’s diet, reduce their risk for obesity, and give them more consistent access to food. But CACFP’s impact has not been clear.
The researchers wanted to know what existing research on CACFP says and to consolidate the research from multiple small studies that have been done on the program.
The researchers used PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews. They included peer-reviewed and gray literature using a range of databases, with dates up to November 12, 2021. Studies included were of children between two and 18 years old and compared children in childcare programs that participated in CACFP with children in childcare programs that did not participate.
“Research on CACFP’s impacts has been limited and often conducted using small, localized samples, making it difficult to draw overall conclusions about the program’s effectiveness.”
—Erica L. Kenney, Kyla Tucker, Rachel S. Plummer, and Carol Mita, Harvard University; and Tatiana Andreyeva, University of Connecticut
“More robust research on CACFP and its impacts on child health is needed,” the authors write.
$200,000
Awarded on: 01/14/2020
Timeframe: 2020-2022
Grant number: 77232
Location: Hartford, CT
University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health Hartford, CT 06103
This study and report was conducted and created by the following people.
