Are Food Stamps Making Us Fat?
Reported August 12, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A helping hand from the government may be playing a role in the obesity epidemic.
Results from a 14-year study show food stamps are actually making people fatter. Researchers say people who received food stamps had a Body Mass Index 1.15 points higher than those not receiving assistance. The longer they were in the program, the faster their BMI increased. Researchers also accounted for factors — including income, education, local factors and race — and still found that participants who used food stamps were heavier. Women showed a higher increase in weight than men while on the program.
The average participant’s BMI increased from .07 points to .4 points in one year. Users received an average of $81 in food stamps each month.
“We can’t prove that the Food Stamp Program causes weight gain, but this study suggests a strong linkage,” Jay Zagorsky, research scientist at the Center for Human Resource Research at Ohio State University, was quoted as saying, “While food stamps may help fight hunger, they may have the unintended consequence of encouraging weight gain.”
SOURCE: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 2009