Most of the research to date on the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s effects on health insurance coverage has focused on the impact on healthcare utilization and health in adults, with few studies examining the causal impact of Medicaid expansion on children’s nutrition outcomes. Researchers at the Institute for Global Nutrition will triangulate three key nationally representative studies, including a novel data set with rich measures of food purchases, to comprehensively examine an important spillover effect of ACA Medicaid expansion on improving children’s food security and diet quality.
PI: Lauren Au
Funded by: NIH National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI) in 2026
Photo Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture