Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent policy response to mitigate disease spread had far-reaching impacts on health and social well-being. In response, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) underwent several pandemic-era modifications, including a 15 % monthly benefit increase on January 1, 2021. Research documenting the health effects of these SNAP modifications among low-income households and minoritized groups who were most impacted by the economic fallout during the first years of the pandemic is lacking. We aimed to estimate the health effects of the 15 % SNAP benefit increase in January 2021, among SNAP-eligible US households. Design: We estimated the effects of the SNAP increase on food insufficiency, mental health, and financial well-being using a rigorous quasi-experimental difference-in-differences (DID) analysis. Setting: August 19, 2020, to March 29, 2021. Participants: Participants were drawn from the national US Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey waves 13–27 (n 44 477). Results: Compared with SNAP-eligible non-recipients, SNAP-eligible recipients experienced decreased food insufficiency (–1·9 percentage points (pp); 95 % CI –3·7, –0·1) and anxiety symptoms (–0·09; 95 % CI –0·17, –0·01), and less difficulty paying for other household expenses (–3·2 pp; 95 % CI –4·9, –1·5) after the SNAP benefit increase. Results were robust to alternative specifications. Conclusions: Expansions of federal nutrition programmes have the potential to improve health and financial well-being. This study provides timely evidence to inform comprehensive safety net nutrition policies during future economic crises and public health preparedness response plans.

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted rapid and innovative policymaking around the world at the national, regional, and local levels. There has been limited work to systematically document and characterize new and expanded local U.S. pandemic-era policies, which is imperative to better understand the policy variation and resulting health impacts during this unprecedented time. California, the most populous U.S. state, provides a case example of a particularly active policy response. The aim of this Brief Report is to summarize the creation and potential areas of application of a newly created publicly available California- and US-based COVID-19 policy database. We generated an extensive list of California and US policies that were modified or created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. From July–November 2021, we searched current and historical California and federal government websites, press releases, social media, and news sources and recorded detailed information on these policies, including coverage dates, eligibility criteria, and benefit amounts. This comprehensive dataset includes 39 public health, economic, housing, and safety net programs and policies implemented at both federal and state levels and provides details of the complex and multifaceted policy landscape in California from March 2020 to November 2021. Our database is publicly available. Future investigators can leverage the information systematically recorded in this database to rigorously assess the short- and long-term effects of these policies, which will in turn inform future preparedness response plans in California and beyond.

Background: Access to safe, affordable and accessible drinking water is a human right and foundational to the third and sixth World Health Organization’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Unsafe drinking water is a risk factor for chronic and enteric diseases. Both chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diarrheal disease are highly prevalent in the Lake Chapala basin, Jalisco, Mexico, suggesting disparities in factors leading to successful achievement of these two SDGs. Methods: This study aimed to assess progress towards SDG three and six in the Lake Chapala basin. Qualitative, quantitative, and geospatial data were collected between May and August of 2019 from three towns within the municipalities of Poncitlán and Chapala. Results: Ninety-nine households participated in this study. Water sampling analyses determined 81.18% of samples from water jugs (garrafones) and 70.05% of samples from tap water were contaminated with total coliform bacteria, often including E. coli. Additionally, 32% of garrafón samples and 61.9% of tap water samples had detectable levels of arsenic. Approximately 97.94% of respondents stated that they believe clean water is a human right, but 78.57% feel the Mexican government does not do enough to make this a reality. Conclusions: This mixed methods approach highlights water quality as a serious issue in communities around Lake Chapala, and demonstrates inadequate drinking water as a key hazard, potentially perpetuating the high disease burden of both CKD and enteric disease in the region.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent policy responses aimed at curbing disease spread and reducing economic fallout, had far-reaching consequences for maternal health. There has been little research to our knowledge on enduring disruptions to maternal health trends beyond the early pandemic and limited understanding of how these impacted pre-existing disparities in maternal health. Methods: We leveraged rigorous interrupted time-series methods and US National Center for Health Statistics Vital Statistics Birth Data Files of all live births for 2015–2021 (N = 24,653,848). We estimated whether changes in maternal health trends after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020) differed from predictions based on pre-existing temporal trends. Outcomes included gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational weight gain, and adequacy of prenatal care. Results: We found an increased incidence of gestational diabetes (December 2020 peak: 1.7 percentage points (pp); 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3, 2.1), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (January 2021 peak: 1.3 pp; 95% CI: 0.4, 2.1), and gestational weight gain (March 2021 peak: 0.1 standard deviation; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.1) and declines in inadequate prenatal care (January 2021 nadir: −0.4 pp; 95% CI: −0.7, −0.1). Key differences by subgroups included greater and more sustained increases in gestational diabetes among Black, Hispanic, and less educated individuals. Conclusion: These patterns in maternal health likely reflect not only effects of COVID-19 infection but also changes in healthcare access, health behaviors, remote work, economic security, and maternal stress. Further research about causal pathways and longer-term trends will inform public health and clinical interventions to address maternal disease burden and disparities.