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Making SNAP More Healthful

Making SNAP More Healthful. Punam Ohri-Vachaspati, PhD, RD Arizona State University Karen Sell, RD Arizona Department of Health Services Collaborators: Christopher Wharton, PhD; Will Humble, MPH; Robin DeWeese, MS; Wesley Tucker, MS. Outline. Why should we care?

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Making SNAP More Healthful

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  1. Making SNAP More Healthful Punam Ohri-Vachaspati, PhD, RD Arizona State University Karen Sell, RD Arizona Department of Health Services Collaborators: Christopher Wharton, PhD; Will Humble, MPH; Robin DeWeese, MS; Wesley Tucker, MS

  2. Outline • Why should we care? • SNAP’s impact on health status • SNAP’s impact on diet quality • How prevalent are unhealthy purchases among SNAP shoppers • Who can make changes to SNAP • Suggested Strategies for Improving SNAP

  3. Why Should We Care? • SNAP targets household in most need • In 2011, SNAP included • Over 44 million participants • Over $71 billion in benefits • Increased from $50 billion in 2009 • Greater scrutiny of federal assistance programs • Effectiveness • Impact on health • Opportunity to impact diets of 1 in 7 Americans www.fns.usda.gov.

  4. SNAP Users Have Less Healthy Diets • Children from SNAP households eat more calorie-rich foods • SNAP participants consume • more solid fats, added sugars • fewer fruits and vegetables and whole grain • more soda (and sugar sweetened beverages) Cole and Fox, USDA 2008; Leung and Viallamor, Public Health Nutr 2011

  5. SNAP Users Purchase Less Healthy Foods • SNAP households buy • more than twice as much SSB compared to WIC only households • 70% of SSB purchased with SNAP benefits • Estimated SSB purchase by SNAP users - over $2 billion / year Andreyeva et al., Am J Prev Med 2012;

  6. Higher Risk of Obesity Among SNAP Users Higher rates of overweight and obesity among • Women participating in SNAP (especially among those who are food insecure) • Young girls from SNAP households • Male SNAP participants VerPloeg and Ralston, USDA 2008; Leung and Viallamor, Public Health Nutr 2011;

  7. Who Can Make Changes to SNAP • Two mechanisms at State level • changing policies that do not have an impact on federal requirements for the functioning of the program – EBT cards at farmers’ markets • applying for a waiver (from the FNS) related to federal SNAP rules if the proposed change would result in more efficient administration of the program • To date, no waivers have been granted that affect policies related to participants’ food choices or food environment

  8. Strategies for Making SNAP Healthier • Improving SNAP Participant’s Access to Healthy Foods • Incentivizing Purchase of Healthy Foods for SNAP Participants • Restricting Purchase of Unhealthy Foods With EBT Cards • Including Public Health Approaches to Expand SNAP-Ed Outreach

  9. Improving SNAP Participant’s Access to Healthy Foods a Based on research studies and expert recommendations and commentary. b Based on state and federal political and administrative support and potential acceptability to advocates and stakeholders. c Based on level of complexity in implementation and cost of implementation.

  10. Improving SNAP Participant’s Access to Healthy Foods

  11. Incentivizing the Purchase of Healthy Foods for SNAP Participants a Based on research studies and expert recommendations and commentary. b Based on state and federal political and administrative support and potential acceptability to advocates and stakeholders. c Based on level of complexity in implementation and cost of implementation.

  12. Incentivizing the Purchase of Healthy Foods for SNAP Participants

  13. Restricting Purchase of Unhealthy Foods With EBT Cards a Based on research studies and expert recommendations and commentary. b Based on state and federal political and administrative support and potential acceptability to advocates and stakeholders. c Based on level of complexity in implementation and cost of implementation.

  14. Restricting Purchase of Unhealthy Foods With EBT Cards

  15. Restricting Purchase of Unhealthy Foods With EBT Cards

  16. Including Public Health Approaches to Expand SNAP-Ed Outreach a Based on research studies and expert recommendations and commentary. b Based on state and federal political and administrative support and potential acceptability to advocates and stakeholders. c Based on level of complexity in implementation and cost of implementation.

  17. Including Public Health Approaches to Expand SNAP-Ed Outreach

  18. White Paper http://www.snaptohealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SNAP_White_Paper_FINAL.pdf

  19. Thank You! Contact Information: Punam.Ohri-Vachaspati@asu.edu Karen.Sell@azdhs.gov

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