Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education Improves Food Security Independent of Food Assistance and Program Characteristics

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to determine whether consistent food assistance program participation or changes in participation over time mediated or moderated the effect of federal nutrition education through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) on food security and determine the associations of SNAP-Ed program delivery characteristics with change in food security. This secondary analysis used data from a randomized controlled trial from September 2013 through April 2015. SNAP-Ed-eligible participants (n = 328; ≥18 years) in households with children were recruited from 39 counties in Indiana, USA. The dependent variable was one year change in household food security score measured using the United States Household Food Security Survey Module. Assessment of mediation used Barron-Kenny analysis and moderation used interactions of food assistance program use and changes over time with treatment group in general linear regression modeling. Program delivery characteristics were investigated using mixed linear regression modeling. Results showed that neither consistent participation nor changes in food assistance program participation over time mediated nor moderated the effect of SNAP-Ed on food security and neither were SNAP-Ed program delivery characteristics associated with change in food security over the one year study period. SNAP-Ed directly improved food security among SNAP-Ed-eligible Indiana households with children regardless of food assistance program participation and changes over time or varying program delivery characteristics.

Food Insecurity and Cardiovascular Disease Risk

“…Especially among seniors, over 60% of those eligible do not receive benefits, suggesting room for improvement in reach of the current SNAP program [9]. Nutrition education has also been shown to improve food security [62,63]. Education through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) combines nutrition and budgeting education for those who qualify for SNAP; SNAP-Ed improved food security by 25% over a 1-year timeframe in an intervention compared with a control group that was independent of participation in SNAP or other food assistance [62,63].…”

“…Nutrition education has also been shown to improve food security [62,63]. Education through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) combines nutrition and budgeting education for those who qualify for SNAP; SNAP-Ed improved food security by 25% over a 1-year timeframe in an intervention compared with a control group that was independent of participation in SNAP or other food assistance [62,63]. Yet SNAP-Ed is even more restricted as a non-entitlement program serving approximately 5% of US adults who used SNAP in 2018 [64,65].…”

Nutrition among Vulnerable U.S. Populations

“…In order to begin to fill this gap, this Special Issue on "Nutrition Among Vulnerable Populations" features papers quantifying dietary intake, nutritional status, access to food and food security, barriers to healthful foods and food security and environmental influences experienced by vulnerable groups with a high prevalence of food insecurity. The following sections summarize the findings of the four papers on children [13][14][15][16], three papers on adults [17][18][19] and three papers featuring studies of families or households (Figure 1) [20][21][22]. The diet, health and environmental associations linked with food insecurity or low resources among vulnerable child populations are featured in papers including samples drawn from rarely investigated young children living in Hawai'i, Guam and the Midwestern U.S., while a sample of children and adolescents included in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) provided nationally representative contrasts of the diets of food secure and insecure children.…”

“…Chidren Diet [13,14] Health [15] Environment [16] Adults Diet [17] Health [18] Environment [19] Households Behaviors to promote in interventions [20] Interventions [21,22] The diet, health and environmental associations linked with food insecurity or low resources among vulnerable child populations are featured in papers including samples drawn from rarely investigated young children living in Hawai'i, Guam and the Midwestern U.S., while a sample of children and adolescents included in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) provided nationally representative contrasts of the diets of food secure and insecure children. Starting with a national scope, the foods and beverages and food groups that were most frequently consumed and contributing most to energy among U.S. children ages 6 to 11 years and 12 to 17 years who were living in situations of food security and food insecurity among household children were determined and compared in a study by Eicher-Miller et al [14] using NHANES data.…”

“…Clearly, there is a need for interventions that apply knowledge of the barriers, nutrition, health and environmental risks to improve food security and health among low-resource populations. Three studies in this Special Issue focus on interventions or behaviors that may be promoted in future interventions among low-resource families [20][21][22]. A sample of families with young children in Head Start from a rural area of a northern U.S. state was used to investigate the association of food resource management behaviors, food resource management self-confidence and financial practices with household food insecurity [20].…”