Policy Considerations for Improving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Making a Case for Decreasing the Burden of Obesity

The epidemic of overweight and obesity and its multiple causes have captured the attention of researchers, program administrators, politicians, and the public alike. Recently, a number of stakeholder groups have started investigating the role that food and nutrition assistance programs may play in the etiology of the problem and in identifying possible solutions. As a result, policy changes have been recommended and implemented for programs such as the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to improve the nutritional quality of foods they offer to their participants. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is also attracting attention as a potential vehicle to reduce the burden of obesity among its users. Because of the tough economic and political climate in which all federal programs currently operate, the need for making nutrition assistance programs more efficient and effective in addressing health-and nutrition-related problems affecting the country has never been greater. This document proposes a set of strategies to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of SNAP. These strategies are based on a review of research literature, recommendations from expert groups, and prior experiences from other communities and states. We include information pertaining to potential stakeholder arguments for and against each strategy, as well as political feasibility, financial impact and logistical requirements for implementation. We drew candidate strategies from the range of options that have been tested through research, and from policies that have been implemented around the country. The order of strategies in this document is based on overall strength of supportive research, as well as political and implementation feasibility. The four proposed strategies include: improving access to healthy foods to provide better choices; incentivizing purchase of healthy foods; restricting access to unhealthy foods; and maximizing education to more effectively reach a larger population of SNAP participants. To improve access to healthy foods, we propose establishing guidelines that require SNAP vendors to carry healthier options. We argue that improved selection of food at SNAP-authorized stores will not only improve the choices for SNAP participants, but will also improve the overall food environments in the communities where SNAP participants reside. Such an effort will also carry with it the benefit of stimulating sales at small local stores as SNAP participants will not have to travel to distant supermarkets to redeem their benefits. In addition, building on the President " s and Congress " Healthy …