Nutrition Policy Institute News

California's San Joaquin Valley is home to many low-income Latino agricultural-worker families who disproportionately experience food insecurity and diet-related diseases. Yet free school meal participation is surprisingly low.

Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), instead of plain water, is associated with poorer health outcomes and a higher risk of developing diet-related chronic diseases. However, public distrust of the local water supply may deter the intake of plain drinking water.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food packages provide a specific set of foods to meet nutritional needs of low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum individuals, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk.

Licensed family child care homes (FCCH) provide child care in individual homes, are often located in the same neighborhood as the families they serve and often provide longer hours of care at a lower cost than child care centers.

Healthy default beverage laws require restaurants to list healthier beveragessuch as water or unflavored milk as opposed to sugary drinksas the default option for children's meals.