APA hails SCHIP enactment as safety net for low-income children

Head Start, the federal government's preschool program for low-income children, is one of the nation's most popular domestic initiatives. In 1980, President Carter praised it as "a program that works." President Reagan included Head Start in the "safety net" and has presided over a substantial funding increase. Head Start began in 1965 as a 6-week summer experiment in using child development services to improve the future prospects of disadvantaged children. It quickly became a full year program. Now, 20 years old, it serves about 450,000 children, at an annual cost of more than $1 billion. The program's popularity is based on the widespread impression that it lifts poor children out of poverty by improving their learning ability and school performance.

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A Safety Net Unraveling: Feeding Young Children During COVID-19

American Journal of Public Health ◽

10.2105/ajph.2020.305980 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 111 (1) ◽

pp. 116-120

Author(s):

Katherine W. Bauer ◽

Jamie F. Chriqui ◽

Tatiana Andreyeva ◽

Erica L. Kenney ◽

Virginia C. Stage ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Low Income ◽

Safety Net ◽

The United States ◽

Federal State ◽

Adult Care ◽

Low Income Children ◽

Early Child Care ◽

Food Programs ◽

State And Local

The emergence of COVID-19 in the United States led most states to close or severely limit the capacity of their early child-care and education (ECE) programs. This loss affected millions of young children, including many of the 4.6 million low-income children who are provided free meals and snacks by their ECE programs through support from the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Although Congress swiftly authorized waivers that would allow CACFP-participating ECE programs to continue distributing food to children, early evidence suggests that most ECE programs did not have the capacity to do so, leaving a fragmented system of federal, state, and local food programs to fill the gaps created by this loss. Critical steps are needed to repair our nation’s fragile ECE system, including greater investment in CACFP, to ensure the nutrition, health, and development of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

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Anaemia, lead poisoning and vitamin D deficiency in low-income children: do current screening recommendations match the burden of illness?

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980010003617 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 14 (8) ◽

pp. 1424-1428 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Margaret Kersey ◽

Ming Chi ◽

Diana B Cutts

Keyword(s):

Vitamin D ◽

Vitamin D Deficiency ◽

Low Income ◽

Burden Of Illness ◽

Retrospective Chart Review ◽

Blood Lead ◽

Safety Net ◽

Vitamin D Status ◽

Low Income Children ◽

Safety Net Hospital

AbstractObjectiveLow-income children are routinely screened for anaemia and elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) but not for vitamin D deficiency. We sought to determine the relative prevalence of and the relationship among vitamin D deficiency, anaemia and EBLL among healthy low-income paediatric clinic patients.DesignRetrospective chart review.SettingPaediatric outpatient clinic in an urban safety net hospital in a northern US state.SubjectsHealthy toddlers and children under 6 years of age (n 127) who were seen for a routine well child check-up (WCC).ResultsThe prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency (25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) < 30 ng/ml) was 62 %; the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D < 20 ng/ml) was 29 %. These rates were far higher than those for anaemia (Hb < 11·0 g/dl) at 10 %, EBLL (Pb > 9 μg/dl) at 1 % or even mildly EBLL (Pb 5–9 μg/dl) at 4 % (range: 1–11). There was no relationship among any of the following: vitamin D status, anaemia or EBLL. The vast majority of children with vitamin D deficiency had both normal Hb (86 %) and Pb level (100 %). After controlling for child's age, gender and race/ethnicity, there was no association between Hb (continuous, g/dl) and vitamin D deficiency (adjusted OR (aOR) = 0·97, 95 % CI 0·64, 1·47; P = 0·88). The only significant predictor of vitamin D deficiency was increasing age in years (aOR = 1·39, 95 % CI 1·03, 1·86; P = 0·03). None of these associations changed materially when deficiency was defined as <15 ng/ml.ConclusionsVitamin D deficiency was far more common than anaemia or EBLL, and Hb and Pb status were not predictors of vitamin D status.

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