IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ehbiol/v19y2015icp170-183.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Did the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act affect dietary intake of low-income individuals?

Author

Listed:
  • Waehrer, Geetha
  • Deb, Partha
  • Decker, Sandra L.

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between increased Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits following the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the diet quality of individuals from SNAP-eligible compared to ineligible (those with somewhat higher income) households using data from the 2007–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The ARRA increased SNAP monthly benefits by 13.6% of the maximum allotment for a given household size, equivalent to an increase of $24 to $144 for one-to-eight person households respectively. In the full sample, we find that these increases in SNAP benefits are not associated with changes in nutrient intake and diet quality. However, among those with no more than a high school education, higher SNAP benefits are associated with a 46% increase in the mean caloric share from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and a decrease in overall diet quality especially for those at the lower end of the diet quality distribution, amounting to a 9% decline at the 25th percentile.

Suggested Citation

  • Waehrer, Geetha & Deb, Partha & Decker, Sandra L., 2015. "Did the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act affect dietary intake of low-income individuals?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 170-183.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:19:y:2015:i:c:p:170-183
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2015.08.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X1500060X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ehb.2015.08.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hilary W. Hoynes & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2009. "Consumption Responses to In-Kind Transfers: Evidence from the Introduction of the Food Stamp Program," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(4), pages 109-139, October.
    2. Zagorsky, Jay L. & Smith, Patricia K., 2009. "Does the U.S. Food Stamp Program contribute to adult weight gain?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 246-258, July.
    3. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    4. Jacob A. Klerman & Susan Bartlett & Parke Wilde & Lauren Olsho, 2014. "The Short-Run Impact of the Healthy Incentives Pilot Program on Fruit and Vegetable Intake," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1372-1382.
    5. Kumcu, Aylin & Kaufman, Phillip R., 2011. "Food Spending Adjustments During Recessionary Times," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, pages 1-8.
    6. Manning, Willard G. & Basu, Anirban & Mullahy, John, 2005. "Generalized modeling approaches to risk adjustment of skewed outcomes data," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 465-488, May.
    7. Todd, Jessica E. & Mancino, Lisa & Lin, Biing-Hwan, 2010. "The Impact of Food Away from Home on Adult Diet Quality," Economic Research Report 58298, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    8. Mancino, Lisa & Todd, Jessica & Lin, Biing-Hwan, 2009. "Separating what we eat from where: Measuring the effect of food away from home on diet quality," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 557-562, December.
    9. Brent Kreider & John V. Pepper & Craig Gundersen & Dean Jolliffe, 2012. "Identifying the Effects of SNAP (Food Stamps) on Child Health Outcomes When Participation Is Endogenous and Misreported," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 107(499), pages 958-975, September.
    10. Parke E. Wilde & Paul E. McNamara & Christine K. Ranney, 1999. "The Effect of Income and Food Programs on Dietary Quality: A Seemingly Unrelated Regression Analysis with Error Components," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(4), pages 959-971.
    11. Mancino, Lisa & Guthrie, Joanne, 2014. "SNAP Households Must Balance Multiple Priorities To Achieve a Healthful Diet," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, issue 10, pages 1-1, November.
    12. Laura Castner & James Mabli, "undated". "Food Expenditures and Diet Quality Among Low-Income Households and Individuals (Summary)," Mathematica Policy Research Reports cfa3640d468547168d2da8de8, Mathematica Policy Research.
    13. Mancino, Lisa & Newman, Constance, 2007. "Who Has Time To Cook? How Family Resources Influence Food Preparation," Economic Research Report 55961, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    14. Philip M. Gleason & Anu Rangarajan & Christine Olson, "undated". "Dietary Intake and Dietary Attitudes Among Food Stamp Participants and Other Low-Income Individuals," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 7de7096e094445cba404d4e97, Mathematica Policy Research.
    15. Donald Rose & Jean-Pierre Habicht & Barbara Devaney, "undated". "Household Participation in the Food Stamp and WIC Programs Increases the Nutrient Intakes of Preschool Children," Mathematica Policy Research Reports caa5a3bda073473087339ebbc, Mathematica Policy Research.
    16. Newman, Constance, 2006. "The Income Volatility See-Saw: Implications for School Lunch," Economic Research Report 7237, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    17. Todd, J.E. & Ploeg, M.V., 2014. "Caloric beverage intake among adult supplemental nutrition assistance program participants," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(9), pages 80-85.
    18. Nord, Mark & Prell, Mark A., 2011. "Food Security of SNAP Recipients Improved Following the 2009 Stimulus Package," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, pages 1-8.
    19. Nord, Mark & Prell, Mark, 2011. "Food Security Improved Following the 2009 ARRA Increase in SNAP Benefits," Economic Research Report 262242, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    20. Blough, David K. & Madden, Carolyn W. & Hornbrook, Mark C., 1999. "Modeling risk using generalized linear models," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 153-171, April.
    21. repec:mpr:mprres:6731 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. James Mabli & Laura Castner & James Ohls & Mary Kay Fox & Mary Kay Crepinsek & Elizabeth Condon, 2010. "Food Expenditures and Diet Quality Among Low-Income Households and Individuals," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 2ad0b91b0f85417cb047b9f8f, Mathematica Policy Research.
    23. Butler, J S & Raymond, Jennie E, 1996. "The Effect of the Food Stamp Program on Nutrient Intake," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 34(4), pages 781-798, October.
    24. repec:mpr:mprres:2567 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. repec:mpr:mprres:6732 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Almada, Lorenzo N. & Tchernis, Rusty, 2018. "Measuring effects of SNAP on obesity at the intensive margin," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 150-163.
    2. Geetha M. Waehrer, 2023. "Age differences in expenditure responses to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(1), pages 372-391, March.
    3. Alyssa J. Moran & Yuxuan Gu & Sasha Clynes & Attia Goheer & Christina A. Roberto & Anne Palmer, 2020. "Associations between Governmental Policies to Improve the Nutritional Quality of Supermarket Purchases and Individual, Retailer, and Community Health Outcomes: An Integrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-23, October.
    4. Hudak, Katelin M. & Racine, Elizabeth F., 2021. "Do additional SNAP benefits matter for child weight?: Evidence from the 2009 benefit increase," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    5. Brandon J. Restrepo & Matthew P. Rabbitt & Christian A. Gregory, 2021. "The Effect of Unemployment on Food Spending and Adequacy: Evidence from Coronavirus‐Induced Firm Closures," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 185-204, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Almada, Lorenzo N. & Tchernis, Rusty, 2018. "Measuring effects of SNAP on obesity at the intensive margin," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 150-163.
    2. Justine Hastings & Ryan Kessler & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2021. "The Effect of SNAP on the Composition of Purchased Foods: Evidence and Implications," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 277-315, August.
    3. Leschewski, Andrea M. & Weatherspoon, Dave D., 2017. "SNAP Household Food Expenditures Using Non-SNAP Payment Methods," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 259139, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Susan Chen & Le Wang, 2021. "SNAP participation, diet quality, and obesity: robust evidence with estimation techniques without external instrumental variables," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 1641-1667, September.
    5. Wu, Kaidi, 2020. "The Effect of SNAP on Dietary Quality: Evidence from FoodAPS," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304462, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Just, David R. & Gabrielyan, Gnel, 2018. "Influencing the food choices of SNAP consumers: Lessons from economics, psychology and marketing," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 309-317.
    7. D M Zimmer, 2023. "The effect of food stamps on fibre intake," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 28(2), pages 71-86, September.
    8. Tiehen, Laura & Jolliffe, Dean & Gundersen, Craig, 2012. "Alleviating Poverty in the United States: The Critical Role of SNAP Benefits," Economic Research Report 262233, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    9. Tuttle, Charlotte, 2016. "The Stimulus Act of 2009 and Its Effect on Food-At-Home Spending by SNAP Participants," Economic Research Report 262193, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    10. Philip M. Gleason & Anu Rangarajan & Christine Olson, "undated". "Dietary Intake and Dietary Attitudes Among Food Stamp Participants and Other Low-Income Individuals," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 7de7096e094445cba404d4e97, Mathematica Policy Research.
    11. Irma Arteaga & Colleen Heflin & Leslie Hodges, 2018. "SNAP Benefits and Pregnancy-Related Emergency Room Visits," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(6), pages 1031-1052, December.
    12. Valizadeh, Pourya & Smith, Travis A., 2017. "How Did the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Impact the Material Well-being of SNAP Participants? A Distributional Approach," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258496, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Lee, Ji Yong & Nayga Jr, Rodolfo M. & Jo, Young & Restrepo, Brandon J., 2022. "Time use and eating patterns of SNAP participants over the benefit month," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    14. Dahye Kim & Byeong-il Ahn, 2020. "Eating Out and Consumers’ Health: Evidence on Obesity and Balanced Nutrition Intakes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-17, January.
    15. Justine Hastings & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2018. "How Are SNAP Benefits Spent? Evidence from a Retail Panel," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(12), pages 3493-3540, December.
    16. Yanliang Yang & George C Davis & Wen You, 2019. "Measuring Food Expenditure Poverty in SNAP Populations: Some Extensions with an Application to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(1), pages 133-152, March.
    17. Burney, Shaheer, 2018. "In-kind benefits and household behavior: The impact of SNAP on food-away-from-home consumption," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 134-146.
    18. Nicholas, Lauren Hersch, 2011. "Can Food Stamps help to reduce Medicare spending on diabetes?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, January.
    19. Lucie Schmidt & Lara Shore-Sheppard & Tara Watson, 2016. "The Effect of Safety-Net Programs on Food Insecurity," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(3), pages 589-614.
    20. Rachel Griffith & Martin O'Connell & Kate Smith, 2016. "Shopping Around: How Households Adjusted Food Spending Over the Great Recession," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(330), pages 247-280, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:19:y:2015:i:c:p:170-183. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622964 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.