August 13, 2009
According to a new nationwide study that appears in the recent issue of Economics and Human Biology, the U.S. Food Stamp Program may help contribute to obesity among its users.
Researchers found that the average user of food stamps had a Body Mass Index (BMI) 1.15 points higher than non-users. The link between food stamps and higher weight was almost entirely based on women users, who averaged 1.24 points higher BMI than those not in the program, the study found. For an average American woman, this would mean an increase in weight of 5.8 pounds.
The study also found that people’s BMI increased faster when they were on food stamps than when they were not, and increased more the longer they were in the program.
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Economics, Health Care, Politics, Poverty | Tagged: average, become obese, BMI, BMI decreased, BMI increased, body mass index, Body Mass Index (BMI), Center for Human Resource Research, Diet and Weight Loss, Economics and Human Biology, fat, food stamp, Food Stamp Use Linked To Weight Gain, food stamps, gain fat, gain weight, grocery shopping, healthy eating, Jay Zagorsky, National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, NLSY, Nutrition, obesity, Ohio State University, Ohio State University’s Center for Human Resource Research, Patricia Smith, Poverty, public assistance, public health, Resource Shortage, ScienceDaily, Social Issues, Study Finds, U.S. Food Stamp, U.S. Food Stamp Program, U.S. Food Stamps, University of Michigan-Dearborn, weight | 
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Posted by Ariel Goldring
