Vibha Bhargava

Education

Research

My research examines how social, economic, and public policy factors shape health and health care decisions across the lifespan, and how those decisions ultimately affect health and well-being. My current work focuses on food insecurity, nutrition security, and health and nutrition policy,  examining how programs like SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare, and the Older Americans Act Nutrition Programs affect vulnerable populations. A recent focus of this work has been developing a measure of nutrition security, extending how the field assesses not just whether people have enough food, but whether they have consistent access to food that supports good health. Using multidisciplinary, primarily quantitative methods, I evaluate the effectiveness of these programs and explore the links between economic constraints, food and nutrition insecurity, and health disparities.

Journal Articles

Selected (2012-Present)

Bhargava, V.,  J. S. Lee, and  T. A. Smith.  (2026). Measuring Nutrition Security Using the Consumer Food Data System Datasets. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 48(4): 1089–1100. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.70076.   

Bhargava, V., Lee, J. S., Smith, T. A. (2026). Assessing Nutrition Security and Its Risk Factors Using the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey Data. Public Health Nutrition. 29(1):e37. doi: 10.1017/S136898002610192X. PMID: 41622840; PMCID: PMC12951352. doi:10.1017/S136898002610192X

Bhargava, V., Lee, J. S., Smith, T.A., & Chakrovorty, S. (2025). Exploring a Measure of Nutrition Security Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. JAMA Network Open, 8(2): e2462130. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.62130

Lee, J. S., Bhargava, V., Smith, T. A., & Walker, T. A. (2022). The effects of aging services and the supplemental nutrition assistance program on food insecurity among older Georgians: 2018–2020. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 44(2). doi:10.1002/aepp.13230

Stotz, S. A., Thompson, J. J., Bhargava, V., Scarrow, A., Cheek, H., Harvey, D., & Lee, J. S. (2021). Feasibility of eLearning Nutrition Education and Supplemental Locally-Grown Produce Dissemination Model: Perspectives from Key Stakeholders. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 16(4), 535-547. doi:10.1080/19320248.2020.1768998

Ryan-Ibarra, S., DeLisio, A., Bang, H., Adedokun, O., Bhargava, V., Franck, K., . . . Sneed, C. (2020). The US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education improves nutrition-related behaviors. Journal of Nutritional Science, 9, e44. doi:10.1017/jns.2020.37

Stotz, S. A., Thompson, J. J., Bhargava, V., Scarrow, A., Capitano, K., & Lee, J. S. (2019). A Supplemental Produce and eLearning Nutrition Education Program for Georgians Who Use Safety-Net Clinics for Their Health Care. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 51(9), 1099-1106. doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2019.06.018

Bhargava, V., Palmer, L., Chatterjee, S., & Stebbins, R. (2018). Supportive and mitigating factors associated with financial resiliency and distress. Financial Planning Review. In Press.

Pakstis, A., Kim, J., & Bhargava, V. (2018). Association between Social Support and Health of Aging Adults with Dementia. Ageing International, 43(4), 477-495.

Palmer, L. & Bhargava, V. (2018). Forms of Wealth Associated with Attaining Peer Group Net Worth Following Bankruptcy. Social Science Quarterly, 99(1), 97-117.

Bagwell Adams, B., Lee, J. S., Bhargava, V., Super, D. (2017). Offsetting the Effects of Medical Expenses on Low-Income Households’ Food Budgets: An Analysis of the Standard Medical Expense Deduction. The Gerontologist, 57(2), 359-366.

Bhargava, V. & Lee, J. S. (2017) Food Insecurity and Health care Utilization among Older Adults. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 36(12), 1415-1432.

Bhargava, V. & Lee, J. S. (2016). Food Insecurity and Health care utilization among Older Adults in the United States. Journal of Nutrition in Gerontology and Geriatrics, 35(3), 177-192.

Palmer, L., Bhargava, V., Stebbins, R., & Chatterjee, S. (2016). Net Worth Parity Post-Bankruptcy: Policy Considerations for Investments in Human Capital. Business and Bankruptcy Law Journal, 3, 125-148.

Sattler, E. L., & Bhargava, V. (2015). Food Insecurity and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in U.S. Adolescents. Journal of Applied Research on Children, 6 (2), Article 12. Available at http://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk/vol6/iss2/12

Sattler, E. L. P., Lee, J. S., Bhargava, V. (2014). Food insecurity and medication adherence in low-income older Medicare beneficiaries with type 2 diabetes. Journal of Nutrition in Gerontology and Geriatrics, 33(4):401-417.

Bhargava, V., Hong, G. S. & Montalto, C. P. (2012). Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Conventional Health care: Complements or Substitutes. International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(13), 276-287.

Bhargava, V., Lee, J. S., Jain, R., Johnson, M. A. & Brown, A. (2012). Food Insecurity Is Negatively Associated with Home Health and Out-of-Pocket Expenditures in Older Adults. The Journal of Nutrition, 142(10), 1888-95.