Health

A new mapping tool can help you learn more about the state of environmental health, wherever you live in Washington.

When the school day ends, far too many children return home to empty refrigerators and bare cupboards. The federal Afterschool Nutrition Programs provide healthy meals and snacks to children to ensure they are fed after school (and on weekends and during school holidays).

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Tuesday announced $3 million in grants to 13 community organizations that address things like housing, hunger and other societal factors that affect someone’s health.

These programs, available at 10 Wichita middle and high schools so far, include extended serving times in cafeterias, grab-and-go breakfasts from carts or kiosks, and “second-chance breakfast,” in which students are offered breakfast after homeroom or first period.

The federally funded School Breakfast Program is critical to addressing childhood hunger and food insecurity.

There isn't federal data on food insecurity among college students nationally, so the GAO reviewed 31 studies on the topic, showing that most concluded that over a third of college students don't always have enough to eat.

SNAP is the first line of defense against senior hunger and frees up funds for health care and housing.

When homeless people get released, their issues combined with living on the street will usually land them back in emergency rooms, costing hospitals like Harborview Medical Center — which operates on a thin margin — time and money.

Basic necessities like food and water have been restored since the October afternoon when the storm pummeled Panama City. But a new crisis has emerged over a need even more primal — housing.

Housing quality, instability, and unaffordability threaten the well-being of millions of children across the nation.