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  2. Jun 16, 2018

New Tufts Study Underscores Need for Congress to Adopt ‘Healthy Staples’ Food Stamps Plan

Study Finds SNAP Participants Consume Too Few Fruits and Vegetables, Too Much Processed Meat

WASHINGTON—The Physicians Committee says that a new Tufts University study, which finds that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants eat fewer fruits and vegetables and more processed meat than those not receiving SNAP assistance, underscores the need for Congress to amend the farm bill to include the group’s Healthy Staples SNAP plan. Both houses of Congress are expected to vote on their farm bills by the end of June.

The Tufts study examined the dietary patterns of SNAP recipients with those whose income qualifies them for SNAP but choose not to participate and those whose income is higher than the SNAP guidelines. The team used data obtained during eight two-year cycles of National Health and Examination Survey.

Based on the American Heart Association 2020 Strategic Impact Goals for diet, the Tufts researchers created a summary score reflecting a diet quality of poor, intermediate, or ideal. Greater consumption foods including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes and lower consumption of processed meat, saturated fat, and sugary-sweetened beverages, contributed to a better diet score.

Compared to both income-eligible nonparticipants and higher-income individuals, SNAP participants had the lowest consumption of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. SNAP participants also increased their intake of processed meats like hot dogs, deli meats, sausages.

“This late-breaking study underscores the need for Congress to add the Healthy Staples SNAP plan as a late-breaking amendment to the farm bill,” says Physicians Committee director of nutrition education Susan Levin, M.S., R.D. “Healthy Staples is the only plan that would ensure SNAP provides fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes, and no unhealthful foods including processed meat.”

According to the USDA, SNAP participants are more likely to be obese than income-eligible nonparticipants. They also have an increased risk of death from heart disease and diabetes, compared to SNAP-eligible nonparticipants.

Ms. Levin detailed Healthy Staples in “A Proposal for Improvements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Healthy Staples would subsidize participating grocers who supply basic healthful foods: grains, vegetables, beans, fruits, and basic multiple vitamins. SNAP participants choosing solely from Healthy Staples would likely get about double the fiber, iron, and calcium than those following a typical American diet. A Healthy Staples participant would also consume 65 percent less fat and 85 percent less saturated fat, and the excess of 250 milligrams of cholesterol consumed daily would be reduced to essentially zero.

Healthy Staples is inspired by the USDA’s Women, Infants and Children program, or WIC. In 2009, WIC was revised to help participants get more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. That change helped to decrease the purchases of foods high in fat and sodium and increase the sales of fruits and vegetables, according to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Childhood obesity also decreased among WIC participants.

In May, the Physicians Committee released a poll that found 80 percent of respondents agreed that SNAP should focus on fruits, vegetables, beans, and grains instead of soda, chips, meat, cheese, and energy drinks. The American Medical Association has asked the USDA to incentivize healthful foods and discourage or eliminate unhealthful foods from SNAP.

Media Contact

Jeanne Stuart McVey

202-527-7316

jmcvey[at]pcrm.org

Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit organization that promotes preventive medicine, conducts clinical research, and encourages higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in education and research.

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