WIC Improves Child Health and School Readiness

New research by Children's HealthWatch demonstrates that young children who participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are more likely to be in excellent or good health and have a reduced risk of developmental delay. Investing in WIC supports the nutritional and health needs of young children during a critical window of brain and body growth.Progam improvements that decrease access barriers, provide the full amount of fruits and vegetables recommended by the Institute of Medicine, and accommodate working parents' schedules will help young children reach their full potential

Energy Insecurity is a Major Threat to Child Health

With the recession and this winter's harsh weather, many families are facing a choice between eating and heating. Research by Children's HealthWatch shows that young children whose families struggle to pay their utility bills ('energy insecure' families) are more likely to suffer a host of problems including food insecurity, poor health, hospitalizations and developmental delays.The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides low-income households with assistance in paying their utility bills, is effective at shielding young children from the harmful effects of energy insecurity.According to research by Children's HealthWatch, young children whose families received LIHEAP were less likely to be at risk for growth problems and had healthier weights for their age.By appropriating the maximum authorized funding for LIHEAP and ensuring that climate change legislation buffers vulnerable families and children from the harmful effects of higher energy prices, Congress will be taking important steps to protect children's health

Too Many Hurdles: Barriers to Receiving SNAP Put Childrens Health at Risk

Summary of Findings

Child Care Feeding Programs Support Young Children's Healthy Development

New research by Children's HealthWatch shows that toddlers from low-income families who receive meals from their child care provider - those likely to be receiving CACFP - are in better health, have decreased risk for hospitalization, and are at healthier heights and weights for their age than those whose have to bring meals from home. As the nation's only nutrition program for young children in child care, CACFP is a critical component of a comprehensive approach to child nutrition.Changes to CACFP that expand access, reduce barriers and ensure that child care providers have the resources they need to provide healthy meals are beneficial for young children's health, growth and development

LIHEAP Stabilizes Family Housing and Protects Children's Health

The heating and cooling season presents special challenges for our nation's low-income families. With limited resources, many are challenged to manage the seasonal spike in utility expenses, facing decisions about whether to pay the rent, keep the lights and heat on, or buy enough groceries to get through the end of the month. We know that each of these decisions will have significant implications for the health of their youngest children. Unfortunately, these tough choices are all too common this winter as the nation experiences increases in energy prices, unusually cold weather, and continued high unemployment

Boost to SNAP Benefits Protected Young Children's Health

The Great Recession has taken a significant toll on America's children. In 2010, 25 percent of children under age six were living in poverty, up from 21 percent in 2007

Overcrowding and Frequent Moves Undermine Children's Health

Children need stability in their lives -- whether it is in their daily routines, the adults that care for them, or their housing. Recent economic conditions are putting families at risk, not just of outright homelessness but of being housing insecure (frequent moves, overcrowding, or doubling up with another family for economic reasons)

Earning More, Receiving Less: Loss of Benefits and Child Hunger

New research from Children's HealthWatch shows that increases in income that trigger loss of public assistance benefits can leave young children without enough food to eat. Families hat have been cut off from SNAP or TANF when their income exceeds eligibility limits are more likely to experience levels of food insecurity that require reducing the size or frequency of children's meals compared to those currently receiving benefits. Previous research has demonstrated that both SNAP and TANF reduce the likelihood of food insecurity. Income eligibility guidelines should be re-examined to ensure that a modest increase in income does not disqulaify a family from the benefits they need to keep their children healthy and well-fed. Families that successfully increase their earnings should not find themselves worse off due to a resulting loss of benefits

Household food insecurity positively associated with increased hospital charges for infants

Objective: To test whether household food insecurity (HFI) was associated with total annual hospitalization charges, annual days hospitalized, and charges per day, among low-income infants (months) with any non-neonatal hospital stays. Methods: Administrative inpatient hospital charge data were matched to survey data from infants\u27 caregivers interviewed 1998-2005 in emergency departments in Boston and Little Rock. All study infants had been hospitalized at least once since birth; infants whose diagnoses were not plausibly related to nutrition were excluded from both groups. Log-transformed hospitalization charges were analyzed, controlling for site fixed effects. Results: 24% of infants from food-insecure households and 16% from food-secure households were hospitalized \u3e2 times (P=0.02). Mean annual inpatient hospital charges ($6,707 vs$5,735; P Conclusion: HFI was positively associated with annual inpatient charges among hospitalized low income infants. Average annual inpatient charges were almost $2,000 higher (inflation adjusted) for infants living in food-insecure households. Reducing or eliminating food insecurity could reduce health services utilization and expenditures for infants in low-income families, most of whom are covered by public health insurance

Introduction: Historical thinking, historical consciousness

In September, 2014, the University of Ottawa Education Research Unit, Making History / Faire l’histoire, hosted Canadian History at the Crossroads, a SSHRC-funded symposium in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Québec. The symposium brought together multiple stakeholders, historians, history and museum educators, classroom teachers—including Governor General’s award winners as well as teacher education and graduate students—to stimulate further public dialogue on pedagogies of history and the politics of remembrance. Building on some of the symposium’s original contributions as well as other submissions, this Canadian Journal of Education Special Capsule advances current debates in history education, historical thinking, and historical consciousness, and forges new directions for collective understandings of the past, by connecting with everyday lived experiences in the present. The contributions range from discussions of how young people themselves understand their past to the link- ages between forms of remembering and conceptions of the nation itself.