Food Assistance Research Brief-Childhood Obesity and the Role of USDA

by Victor Oliveira and Jay Variyam

The rapid increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children is one of the most serious public health concerns in the United States today. Although most of USDA's child nutrition programs were established in response to documented problems of underconsumption and undernutrition among the low-income population, they now have the potential to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity. This brief examines the how USDA food assistance and nutrition programs can be used to help further that goal.

Keywords: obesity, nutrition, dietary and health effects, National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, WIC, food assistance programs, poor families

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