Food Stamp Program Participation is Positively Related to Obesity in Low Income Women

Gibson, Diane

doi:10.1093/jn/133.7.2225

Cited by 176 publications

(167 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(43 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

145

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…21 Indeed, mounting evidence suggests that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program may be associated with increased body mass index (BMI) for adult women. [22][23][24][25] To help inform this debate, we examine new data on young children, ages three and five, who constitute a primary target population for the various federal food assistance programs. Children may receive food assistance through multiple federal programs during early childhood, and each program may have a unique effect on children's weight.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Federal Food Policy And Childhood Obesity: A Solution Or Part Of The Problem?

Kimbro

Rigby

2010

Health Affairs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Amid growing concern about childhood obesity, the United States spends billions of dollars on food assistance: providing meals and subsidizing food purchases. We examine the relationship between food assistance and body mass index (BMI) for young, low-income children, who are a primary target population for federal food programs and for efforts to prevent childhood obesity. Our findings indicate that food assistance may unintentionally contribute to the childhood obesity problem in cities with high food prices. We also find that subsidized meals at school or day care are beneficial for children's weight status, and we argue that expanding access to subsidized meals may be the most effective tool to use in combating obesity in poor children.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Federal Food Policy And Childhood Obesity: A Solution Or Part Of The Problem?

Kimbro

Rigby

2010

Health Affairs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although the current study did not control for selection bias toward participation in public assistance programs and was not able to identify which public assistance programs the women used, some studies have found a positive association between participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and higher BMI status in women. 21,[35][36][37] It has been suggested that families who are at risk of experiencing food insecurity have limited cash assistance to spend on food at the end of the month because the majority of SNAP benefits are used within the first 3 days of the month when SNAP benefits are distributed. 38 The sharp decline in cash benefits toward the end of the month leads to a reduction in food consumption among mothers, perhaps even starving themselves so that their children can have sufficient food to eat.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Variables include woman's age (years), marital status (1 = married, 0 = not married), race (non-Hispanic white [reference], Hispanic, and non-Hispanic black), education (1 = high school graduate or more, 0 = less than high school education), and household income based on the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) threshold (1 = ‡ 200% FPL, 0 = < 200% of FPL). Participation in public assistance programs (1 = yes, 0 = no) was included in the regression models, as public assistance programs, specifically the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, have been associated with elevating women's weight status, 21,22 although current research indicates that the effect may be small. 23 Minority individuals and individuals of low SES are more likely to have reduced access to care, 24 and reduced access to care minimizes assistance provided by clinicians to manage weight.…”

Section: Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gestational Weight Gain as a Predictor of Longitudinal Body Mass Index Transitions Among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Women

Hernandez

2012

Journal of Women's Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Socioeconomically disadvantaged women are at greater risk for gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention compared to socioeconomically advantaged women. This study examines the effect of gestational weight gain on body mass index (BMI) transitions 5 years after pregnancy in socioeconomically disadvantaged women. Methods: Gestational weight gain was assessed in 2136 postpartum women participating in the Fragile Families and Child Well-being study who experienced full-term, singleton gestations. Longitudinal BMI transitions were defined as a change or stability in BMI category between two time points: BMI before the index pregnancy and BMI 5 years after the index pregnancy. Logistic regression models estimated the association between gestational weight gain and longitudinal BMI transitions, controlling for health before the index pregnancy, pregnancy history, and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Excessive gestational weight gain was related to transitioning to a higher BMI category 5 years after the index pregnancy. Compared to white women, black and Hispanic women were more likely to transition or maintain a higher BMI category. Pregnancy history (i.e., parity at index pregnancy, interim pregnancy) and public assistance participation were associated with transitioning to a higher BMI category. Conclusions: Among socioeconomically disadvantaged women, excessive gestational weight gain is related to transitioning to, but not maintaining, a higher weight category 5 years after the index pregnancy. Black and Hispanic women who are also socioeconomically disadvantaged and overweight or obese before conception may benefit from preconception or postpartum counseling about the long-term effect of gaining excessive weight during pregnancy and in the years immediately after childbirth.

show abstract

“…8 Overall, the empirical literature has yielded mixed findings on the effects of participation in the FSP on body weight. Studies based on longitudinal data (e.g., Gibson, 2003Gibson, , 2006 suggest that 3 We use the term ''unhealthy" here to identify foods that are likely to be caloriedense and nutrient-poor, and hence not included on the list of allowable foods in the proposed FSP, and not meeting the requirements of the US dietary guidelines. We understand that most foods can be a component of a healthy diet if consumed in moderation, but we find it convenient to use this shorthand to indicate food that would no longer be subsidized under the proposed FSP.…”

Section: Intended and Unintended Consequences Of The Food Stamp Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the growing numbers of people who are categorized as obese and overweight are drawn from all socioeconomic, ethnic, and demographic groups, but not uniformly. Several writers have observed that low-income women-including those receiving food stamps-are more likely than the rich to be obese and overweight (Gibson, 2003;Townsend et al, 2001). This observation leads to two questions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Likely effects on obesity from proposed changes to the US food stamp program

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of CaliforniaThis article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. a b s t r a c tSome have suggested that the US food stamp program (FSP) should be revised with a view to combating obesity among the poor. In this paper, we assess the likely impacts of allowing FSP participants to purchase only healthy foods when using food stamps. Our results indicate that FSP participants would probably increase their consumption of healthy food, but the implications for their purchases of unhealthy food are not clear. Market-wide consequences are even less clear, because changing what may be purchased using food stamps would lead to higher prices for healthy foods and lower prices for unhealthy foods and these price effects would feed back into consumer decisions, with adverse effects on consumption patterns of both participants and non-participants in the FSP. In addition, more restrictive rules on the use of food stamps would discourage participation in the FSP. We conclude that, while reforming the FSP may indeed to lead to better diets among participants, it is likely to be an ineffective and inefficient instrument for bringing about desired nutritional outcomes unless accompanied by additional policy instruments. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. IntroductionLinks between poverty, policy, and nutritional outcomes are complex. For example, the growing numbers of people who are categorized as obese and overweight are drawn from all socioeconomic, ethnic, and demographic groups, but not uniformly. Several writers have observed that low-income women-including those receiving food stamps-are more likely than the rich to be obese and overweight (Gibson, 2003;Townsend et al., 2001). This observation leads to two questions. First, has the current food stamp program (FSP) contributed to growing obesity among the poor in the United States? Second, could the FSP be redesigned such that it would contribute towards improving diet quality and ultimately reducing obesity?The first of these questions is a question for careful model-driven statistical analysis of the historical data. Several studies in recent years have yielded a range of results, but the overall message from the published work is that, compared with non-participants, FSP participants tend to spend more on food, and more on food away from home, and are more like to be overweight or obese. Details differ among studies regarding the size of these effects among different demographic groups-in particular between male and female participants. 1 This paper explores the second question, which has not been subject to as much study though various...

show abstract

Food Stamp Program Participation is Positively Related to Obesity in Low Income Women

Cited by 176 publications

References 23 publications

Federal Food Policy And Childhood Obesity: A Solution Or Part Of The Problem?

Federal Food Policy And Childhood Obesity: A Solution Or Part Of The Problem?

Gestational Weight Gain as a Predictor of Longitudinal Body Mass Index Transitions Among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Women

Likely effects on obesity from proposed changes to the US food stamp program

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About