Evaluation of Demonstrations to End Childhood Hunger - VA (EDECHVA)

The 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization provided funding to test innovative strategies to end childhood hunger and food insecurity. Demonstration projects were funded in Chickasaw Nation, Kentucky, Navajo Nation, Nevada, and Virginia. This study focuses on Virginia. A selection of schools were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group. Children in treatment schools received: (1) three meals during the school day and food packages for weekends and school breaks; (2) $60 monthly Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) benefits during summer months if they were eligible for FRP meals; and (3) nutrition education for their parents. The control group operated under "business as usual."

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Food Insecurity Among Children
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: VA 365 Demonstration Benefits

Detailed Description

Objective: To reduce hunger 365 days a year in households with schoolchildren by transforming schools into food hubs and providing nutrition education to parents.

Target Population: Elementary (n=30), middle (n=6), and high schools (n=2) in rural and urban VA. All schools had low academic performance and at least 50 percent of children eligible for free and reduced-price (FRP) meals.

Intervention: Schools were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group. Children in treatment schools received: (1) three meals during the school day and food packages for weekends and school breaks; (2) $60 monthly Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) benefits during summer months if they were eligible for FRP meals; and (3) nutrition education for their parents. The control group operated under "business as usual." Note that the $60 monthly benefit was not included in the evaluation of the demonstration.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 4750
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 5 years to 18 years (ADULT, CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• A selection of elementary, middle, and high schools in rural and urban Virginia, USA.
• Schools must have had low academic performance and at least 50% or children eligible for free and reduced price through the National School Lunch Program or participating in the Community Eligibility Provision.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: VA 365 Demonstration Benefits; Children in treatment schools received: (1) three meals during the school day and food packages for weekends and school breaks; (2) $60 monthly Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) benefits during summer months if they were eligible for FRP meals; and (3) nutrition education for their parents.	Behavioral: VA 365 Demonstration Benefits; Reducing hunger 365 days a year in households with school children by transforming schools into food hubs ( free breakfast, lunch, supper, and food backpacks for the weekend) and providing nutrition education to parents.
NO_INTERVENTION: Control Group; Schools in the control group operated under "business as usual."

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Food Insecurity among Children	Measured by the United States Department of Agriculture's Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM). Affirming 2 or more out of the 8 child-level items in the HFSSM. Higher scores generally indicates worsening food insecurity.	Previous 30 days: once before intervention start and once during intervention implementation

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Very Low Food Insecurity among Children	Measured by the United States Department of Agriculture's Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM). Affirming 5 or more out of the 8 child-level items in the HFSSM. Higher scores generally indicates worsening food insecurity.	Previous 30 days: once before intervention start and once during intervention implementation
Food Insecurity among Adults	Measured by the United States Department of Agriculture's Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM). Affirming 3 or more out of the 10 adult-level items in the HFSSM. Higher scores generally indicates worsening food insecurity.	Previous 30 days: once before intervention start and once during intervention implementation
Household Food Insecurity	Measured by the United States Department of Agriculture's Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM). Affirming 3 or more out of the 18 items in the HFSSM. Higher scores generally indicates worsening food insecurity.	Previous 30 days: once before intervention start and once during intervention implementation

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: USDA Food and Nutrition Service
• Collaborators: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Final Report

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): September 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): May 1, 2017
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): May 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 12, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 3, 2020
• First Posted (ACTUAL): January 6, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): January 6, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 3, 2020
• Last Verified: December 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Food Security; National School Lunch Program (NSLP); School Breakfast Program (SBP); Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); Food Backpacks
• Other Study ID Numbers: AG-3198-C-14-0019 (Virginia)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Public-use data files are available by request by contacting Michael Burke (michael.burke@usda.gov) or the Office of Policy Support within the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No