Testing food environment mediation of cash transfer effects on children's diet in the Baby's First Years Study
Health & Place | Former Population Health Scholar: Samantha Gailey; MPC Member: Theresa Osypuk
Children in low income households in the US tend to suffer more from poor nutrition and lack of access to healthy foods when compared to children in high income households. The authors of this study replicated prior work from a rigorous, randomized controlled trial showing two-year old children assigned to a “high-cash” gift group (in which mothers received $333/month) ate more fruit and vegetables relative to those in a “low-cash” gift group ($20/month).
However, this team went beyond the protective treatment effect of prior work to examine if the surrounding food environment mediated the effect. They looked at four food environment measures: 1) food deserts (census tract); 2) number of SNAP outlets (1-mile buffer); 3) Modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI; census tract); and 4) supermarket proximity (straight-line distance). The researchers found that changes in the food environment did not mediate the dietary improvement. The results suggest that changes in neighborhood food environments do not explain the effect of a poverty reduction trial on dietary improvements in early childhood.