Objectives. To document the collective effort of diaper banks in the United States and to estimate the percentage of low-income children whose diaper need is met through these efforts. Methods. For each state, we compared the number of children younger than 4 years in families living at or below 200% of the federal poverty level with the number of children served by diaper banks in each state. We collected data reporting all 2016 activities from diaper banks (n = 262) via survey from January to March 2017. Results. In each state, the percentage of children experiencing diaper need that received assistance from a diaper bank ranged from 0% to 16% per month. Conclusions. The findings from this study highlight that a small proportion of low-income families accessed diapers through the existing community-based safety net provided by a national network of nonprofit diaper banks. Public Health Implications. Policies at the federal, state, and municipal level are needed to alleviate this consequence of poverty for children and their families.
A study was undertaken to assess how families coped with meals and snacks for their diabetic children at school, and to discover any problems they experienced. The families of 67 (93%) of the 72 school age diabetic children attending the South Manchester hospitals were questioned. The questions covered morning and afternoon snacks, lunch, and general points about food at school. The majority of parents were satisfied with the arrangements for their children, although we identified some areas, particularly lack of supervision, which could be a cause for concern. A small number of families did experience problems with timing and content of meals, and with communication with school staff. None of these problems are insurmountable, but they demonstrate the need for improved education of families of diabetic children and staff at their schools.
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