SynthesisNutrition reviews2023
The Child and Adult Care Food Program and young children's health: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Nutrition reviews, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Nutrition Interventions for Pediatric Obesity Prevention: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Implementation Challenges With the Child and Adult Care Food Program in Family Childcare Homes: A Qualitative Study.Current developments in nutrition · 2026Article
- Contribution of Meals and Snacks Provided Through the Child and Adult Care Food Program on Young Children's Total Dietary Intake.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2026Observational
- Socioeconomic and Structural Barriers to Addressing Obesity in Communities: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.Circulation · 2026Review
- Beyond Food Assistance: A Scoping Review Examining Associations of Nonfood Social Safety Net Programs in the United States With Food Insecurity and Nutrition Outcomes.Nutrition reviews · 2025Article
- From preschool to policy: A scoping review of recommended interventions for a systems approach to improve dietary intake in early childhood.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Article
- Family child care home providers' perceived difficulty in serving vegetables to children: findings from a multi-method study.Journal of nutritional science · 2025Article
- Article
- Federal Nutrition Assistance for Young Children: Underutilized and Unequally Accessed.American journal of preventive medicine · 2024Article
- Barriers to Participation in the Child and Adult Care Food Program for Early Childhood Care Providers.American journal of public health · 2023Article
- Leveraging the Child and Adult Care Food Program to Facilitate Healthy Behaviors and Environments in Early Care and Education Settings.American journal of public health · 2023Article
- Equitable Access to the USDA's Food Assistance Programs: Policies Needed to Reduce Barriers and Increase Accessibility.American journal of public health · 2023Article
- How policy implementation shapes the impact of U.S. food assistance policies: the case study of the Child and Adult Care Food Program.Frontiers in health services · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
contextThe Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a federal nutrition program that supports young children's nutrition. Its potential impacts on child well-being have not been summarized.
objectiveThe objective of this review was to summarize the evidence for the impact of CACFP on children's diet quality, weight status, food insecurity, and cognitive development. DATA SOURCES: Databases searched included MEDLINE, CAB Abstracts, Web of Science Core Collection, ERIC, PsycInfo, Dissertations & Theses Global (Proquest), EconLit, NBER, and the USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS), from database inception to November 12, 2021. Studies were included if the sample drew from child care programs serving children between the ages of 2 years and 18 years and if a comparison group of nonparticipating programs was included. DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers independently extracted data on study design, year(s) of data collection, region, sample size, participant demographics, outcomes, and risk of bias. DATA ANALYSIS: Due to the heterogeneity of the studies, a narrative synthesis was used.
resultsNineteen articles were reviewed, most of which had been published since 2012. Seventeen used cross-sectional designs. Twelve evaluated foods and beverages served; 4 evaluated dietary intake; 4 evaluated the child care nutrition environment; 2 evaluated food insecurity, 1 evaluated weight status; none evaluated cognitive outcomes. Studies typically found either a small beneficial association with CACFP or no significant association.
conclusionCurrently, evidence for an association between CACFP and children's health is inconclusive, though it is slightly suggestive of a benefit for some dietary quality outcomes. More research, with stronger study designs, is needed. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: A protocol for this systematic review was registered with the PROSPERO systematic review protocol registry (PROSPERO 2021 CRD42021254423).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.