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By Matthew Rees

Food and Health Fact #75: Federal nutrition assistance and obesity

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The following is adapted from a recent article in MedPage Today by Vanita Rahman, MD, and Matthew Rees. Americans with low incomes (below 130 percent of the federal poverty line) have obesity rates that that are nearly eight percentage points higher than among those with higher incomes, according to the CDC. One contributing factor is participation in the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which serves more than 40 million people with low incomes (43 percent of whom are children). There are few very restrictions on what can be purchased with SNAP funds, and about 20 cents of every SNAP dollar goes toward sweetened beverages, desserts, salty snacks, candy, and sugar, according to a report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The study showed that soft drinks, potato chips, and processed meats were among the top ten items purchased with SNAP benefits. A 2011 USDA pilot project in Hampden County, Massachusetts showed a different approach. It gave 7,500 households receiving SNAP benefits an extra 30 cents for every dollar of assistance spent on fruits and vegetables at participating retailers. Consumption of fruits and vegetables was 26% higher among those in the pilot project relative to those who were not.