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Budget Tradeoffs Shape Food Insecurity Among U.S. Older Adults

Madonna Harrington Meyer and Colleen M. Heflin
For low-income older adults, it may be difficult to meet basic needs on a fixed monthly income.  This brief summarizes how budget tradeoffs between food and other essential expenses—housing, utilities, medical care, transportation, and personal and cleaning supplies—shape food insecurity among older adults. 
September 16, 2025

See related: United States

How is Food Insecurity Measured in the United States and What Share of Older Adults are Food Insecure?

Colleen M. Heflin and Madonna Harrington Meyer
Based on the book, Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adults Food Insecurity, this brief summarizes the limitations of food insecurity measurements, noting that existing measures do not account for barriers that are common among older adults, such as mobility, physical distance, and transportation barriers.
September 9, 2025

See related: United States

Is Health Insurance Related to Breastfeeding Duration?

Anna De La Paz
This data slice describes differences in breastfeeding duration by insurance type among females ages 15-49 in the U.S. from 2022-2023. Findings show that mothers with private insurance breastfeed longer than mothers with public insurance, such as Medicaid. 
August 19, 2025

See related: United States

Heart Attacks are on the Rise among Young and Middle-Aged Adults in the United States

Vicente Cuevas
Heart attacks are on the rise among young and middle-aged adults in the United States. This brief describes these increases, summarizes the role of behavioral, lifestyle, and societal factors, and provides recommendations for organizations, healthcare providers, and policymakers to combat the increase in early-onset heart disease.
April 22, 2025

See related: United States

Evidence-based practices and US state government civil servants: Current use, challenges, and pathways forward

Yuan (Daniel) Cheng, Leslie Thompson, Shuping Wang, Jules Marzec, Chengxin Xu, Weston Merrick, and Patrick Carter

This April 2025 Research to Practice Brief summarizes "Evidence-based practices and US state government civil servants: Current use, challenges, and pathways forward," co-authored by Yuan (Daniel) Cheng, Leslie Thompson, Shuping Wang, Jules Marzec, Chengxin Xu, Weston Merrick, and Patrick Carter in Public Administration Review.

April 2, 2025

See related: Government, Research Methods, State & Local Government, United States

Breast Cancer Diagnoses are Increasing among Racial and Ethnic Minority Women in the U.S.

Esther Oshaji
This data slice examines trends in breast cancer incidence rates among women by race and ethnicity in the U.S. from 2000 to 2021. The author finds that, while incidence rates remain highest among non-Hispanic White women, the largest increases in diagnoses have been among American Indian/Alaska Native Asian/Pacific Islander women.
March 25, 2025

See related: United States

Older Women in the U.S. Were Lonelier Than Men During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Qiyu Deng
This data slice uses data from the 2020 Health and Retirement Study to examine gender and age differences in loneliness among older adults (50+) in the U.S. during the first year of the pandemic. 
March 18, 2025

See related: United States

How Does the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Impact Time Spent Assisting Adults?

Anna Wiersma Strauss
This brief summarizes findings from a study that examines the effect of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on unpaid caregiving for adults. The author finds that in response to more generous EITC benefits, younger recipients increase their time spent on paid work and maintain their time spent assisting adults, while older recipients maintain their time spent on paid work and increase their time spent assisting their parents.
March 11, 2025

See related: United States

Younger Grandparents Provide Less Support to their Grandchildren Now than in the Past, but Support among Older Grandparents Has Remained Stable

Hyeonji Cho
This data slice uses data from the 2002-2022 Health and Retirement Study to examine the changes in grandparent support to grandchildren by age group in the U.S.
March 4, 2025

See related: United States

Disability Measures Used in U.S. Federal Surveys Significantly Underreport Disability Status

Nastassia Vaitsiakhovich, Scott D. Landes, Jean P. Hall, and Bonnielin K. Swenor
U.S. federal surveys commonly use two question sets to measure disability: the American Community Survey (ACS-6) and the Washington Group Short Set (WG-SS). This data slice examines the percentage of disabled people captured by these two different survey sets. 
February 25, 2025

How Do Gender and Marital Status Impact High-Risk Polysubstance Use

Kira England and Alexander Chapman
This brief summarizes findings from a study that examined gender and marital status differences in high-risk polysubstance use among U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The authors find that polysubstance use is higher among men and marriage was more protective against polysubstance use for men than women. 
February 18, 2025

Increased Suicidality Risk among Adolescents with an Active-Duty Sibling or Parent in the United States

Andrew S. London and Kevin M. Antshel
This brief summarizes findings from a study that examined whether having a sibling and/or a parent on active duty in the U.S. military is associated with suicidality (i.e., thinking about death a lot, believing oneself is better off dead, thinking about suicide, planning suicide, and attempting suicide) among 12- to 17-year-old adolescent girls and boys in the United States. 
February 11, 2025

Behavioral Science-Based “Nudges” Could Increase Physical Activity among Adolescents with ADHD

Hannah Patnaik, Andrew S. London, and Kevin M. Antshel
This brief summarizes findings from a recently completed pilot study testing the efficacy of behavioral interventions aimed at encouraging daily physical activity (i.e., steps measured with an activity tracker) among adolescents with ADHD. 
February 4, 2025

Hospital Travel Times are Too Long in Rural Puerto Rico

Catherine García
This data slice shows the stark geographic inequities in travel times to the nearest hospitals in Puerto Rico and calls for urgent policy action to address disparities in hospital accessibility.
January 28, 2025

Do Schools Have the Capacity to Provide Free Meals to Every Student?

Michah W. Rothbart, Jeehee Han, and Zac Reeves
This brief summarizes the findings from a study that analyzed the effectiveness of Universal Free Meals and Breakfast in the Classroom at increasing student school breakfast and lunch participation in capacity-constrained schools. 
January 21, 2025

What Factors Influenced COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy? Evidence from Social Media

Huseyin Zeyd Koytak
This brief summarizes findings from a study that examined over 50 million tweets (later rebranded as X) from 2020 to 2022 to investigate the patterns, justifications, and socioeconomic roots of vaccine hesitancy in the United States. 
January 14, 2025

More Police Spending is Linked to Higher Opioid Overdose Mortality Rates

Michah W. Rothbart, Zoe Lindenfeld, Diana Silver, and Amanda I. Mauri
This brief highlights findings from a study on how counties extractive policing practices (e.g., fines and forfeitures) as well as spending on public health are associated with opioid overdose deaths.
January 7, 2025

Seasonal Pollen Increases Traffic Fatalities in the United States

Monica Deza
This brief summarizes findings from a study that examines how seasonal pollen allergies affect traffic fatalities in the U.S. The authors find that traffic fatalities increase 5.8% on days when the local pollen count is particularly high.
December 17, 2024

What Factors Contribute to Racial Disparities in Asthma Prevalence in the United States?

Ali Jones and Marc A. Garcia
This brief highlights Black-White disparities in asthma prevalence and demonstrates how living in unhealthy conditions results in a higher burden of asthma in Black communities.
December 10, 2024

Political Polarization Harms Public Health

Shana Kushner Gadarian, Jay J. Van Bavel, Eric Knowles, and Kai Ruggeri
This brief summarizes the impacts of political polarization on public health in the U.S., highlighting the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study on the health risks of polarization. 
November 19, 2024

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