Elevated Dietary Inflammation Among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients Provides Targets for Precision Public Health Intervention

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides access to healthy food for low-income individuals and households. Food security, however, does not necessarily achieve higher diet quality for beneficiaries. Diet quality is an important consideration for the development and management of chronic illness, a significant public health concern. In this study, we review incentives and disincentives implemented to improve the diet quality, the evidence on SNAP including benefits, challenges, and the politics of funding. New interventions and policies will be needed in order to improve the overall diet quality of SNAP households. SNAP should align with nutritional science to meet national public health goals. Nurses are trusted advocates for patients and the public and are uniquely positioned to aid in this effort. Informed by evidence, nurses willing to leverage their influence, can lead this needed change.

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Strengthening the Public Health Impacts of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Through Policy

Annual Review of Public Health ◽

10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094143 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (1) ◽

pp. 453-480

Author(s):

Sara N. Bleich ◽

Alyssa J. Moran ◽

Kelsey A. Vercammen ◽

Johannah M. Frelier ◽

Caroline G. Dunn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Low Income ◽

Safety Net ◽

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ◽

Health Impacts ◽

Supplemental Nutrition ◽

Assistance Program ◽

The Public ◽

The Us ◽

Nutrition Assistance

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the cornerstone of the US nutrition safety net. Each month, SNAP provides assistance to 40 million low-income Americans—nearly half of them children. A number of changes could strengthen the public health impacts of SNAP. This review first presents a framework describing the mechanisms through which SNAP policy can influence public health, particularly by affecting the food security, the diet quality, and, subsequently, the health of SNAP participants. We then discusspolicy opportunities with the greatest potential to strengthen the public health impacts of SNAP, organized into three areas: ( a) food production and distribution, ( b) benefit allocation, and ( c) eligibility and enrollment. For each section, we describe current policy and limitations of the status quo, suggest evidence-based opportunities for policy change to improve public health, and identify important areas for future research.

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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): History, Politics, and Public Health Implications

American Journal of Public Health ◽

10.2105/ajph.2019.305361 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 109 (12) ◽

pp. 1631-1635 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Marion Nestle

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ◽

Supplemental Nutrition ◽

Assistance Program ◽

Health Implications ◽

Nutrition Assistance

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Self-Reported Use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits to Purchase Soda in a Public Health Center Population: Los Angeles County, California, 2012

Public Health Reports ◽

10.1177/003335491513000307 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 130 (3) ◽

pp. 207-212 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Noel Barragan ◽

Lauren Gase ◽

Rebecca Butler ◽

Lisa Smith ◽

Paul Simon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Los Angeles ◽

Health Center ◽

Los Angeles County ◽

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ◽

Supplemental Nutrition ◽

Assistance Program ◽

Public Health Center ◽

Program Benefits ◽

Nutrition Assistance

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Does Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Reduce Food Insecurity among Households with Children? Evidence from the Current Population Survey

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18063178 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (6) ◽

pp. 3178

Author(s):

Jun Zhang ◽

Yanghao Wang ◽

Steven T. Yen

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Current Population Survey ◽

Population Survey ◽

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ◽

Supplemental Nutrition ◽

Assistance Program ◽

Current Population ◽

Households With Children ◽

Nutrition Assistance

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to improve household diet and food security—a pressing problem confronting low-income families in the United States. Previous studies on the issue often ignored the methodological issue of endogenous program participation. We revisit this important issue by estimating a simultaneous equation system with ordinal household food insecurity. Data are drawn from the 2009–2011 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (CPS-FSS), restricted to SNAP-eligible households with children. Our results add to the stocks of empirical findings that SNAP participation ameliorates food insecurity among adults only, but increases the probabilities of low and very low food security among children. These contradictory results indicate that our selection approach with a single cross section is only partially successful, and that additional efforts are needed in further analyses of this complicated issue, perhaps with longitudinal data. Socio-demographic variables are found to affect food-secure households and food-insecure households differently, but affect SNAP nonparticipants and participants in the same direction. The state policy tools, such as broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) and simplified reporting, can encourage SNAP participation and thus ameliorate food insecurity. Our findings can inform policy deliberations.

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