Strategies to Increase Access to Nutrition Supports

Several federal nutrition programs serve families with low income and young children, and these programs have the potential to help address these disparities by reducing food insecurity and improving the nutritional quality of foods consumed by families. These programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Unfortunately, there are barriers that prevent or deter families from accessing these nutrition supports. This brief presents findings from research on equitable access to nutrition supports. The work was conducted by six grantees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Equity-Focused Policy Research grant program and highlights changes to policy and practices that could help address inequalities.