Americans who receive federal food stamps are more likely to be obese than those who don't receive government food assistance, according to a new study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Among all Americans, 29 percent were overweight and 31 percent were found to be obese, according to data the USDA analyzed from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 2007 and 2010.
However, forty percent of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants were obese, compared to 32 percent of income-eligible nonparticipants and 30 percent of higher-income nonparticipants who were obese.
The same was true when looking at only children. Twenty-four percent of child SNAP participants were found to be obese, while 20 percent of income-eligible participants and only 13 percent of higher-income nonparticipants were found to be obese.
Twenty-eight percent of adult SNAP recipients were overweight, and 44 percent were found to be obese, while among income-eligible nonparticipants, 31 percent were overweight and 33 percent were obese. Thirty-two percent of higher-income nonparticipants were overweight, while 32 percent were obese.
The USDA suggested the consumption of empty calories was a contributing factor to the obesity rates among SNAP participants.
"Overall, SNAP participants obtained a larger share of their total calorie intake from solid fats and added sugars than either income-eligible or higher-income nonparticipants (34 percent versus 32 percent for both groups of nonparticipants)," according to the report. "When alcohol is included in the estimates, empty calories contributed a slightly higher proportion of total calories (35 percent), and the differences between SNAP participants and both groups of nonparticipants persisted."
SNAP participants were less likely to consume raw vegetables and fruit, and more likely to consume whole milk rather than lower-fat milk when compared with the income-eligible or higher-income groups, according to the study. SNAP recipients also consumed soda at a higher rate than the other groups, often choosing regular over diet soda.
A Stanford Prevention Research Center study from 2014 found that "Restricting or removing the subsidy that SNAP provides for sugar-sweetened beverages would be very likely to reduce Type 2 diabetes and obesity among low-income Americans."
Although in March, the USDA's Economic Research Service released a report concluding that SNAP participants "are no more likely to consume" sugar-sweetened drinks than lower-income nonparticipants, which it said were consistent with other ERS data that "also found that SNAP participants' diets do not differ greatly relative to other similar nonparticipants."
