Introduction
Policymakers have focused on the food retail environment for improving the dietary
quality for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants. Yet little
is known about where SNAP households make food and beverage purchases or how purchases
may vary by store type, SNAP participation, and income level. The objective of this
study was to examine the association between SNAP-income status (participant, income-eligible
non-participant, higher-income non-participant) and healthfulness of household purchases
across store types.
Methods
Data included household packaged food purchases (N=76,458 unique households) from
2010 to 2014, analyzed in 2017 with multivariable adjusted models to examine the nutritional
profile of purchases by store type (grocery, convenience, big box, and other stores)
for SNAP participating households, income-eligible non-participants, and higher-income
non-participants. Outcomes included volume and nutrients (kilocalories, total sugar,
saturated fat, and sodium) and calories from food groups.
Results
All households purchased the greatest volume of foods and beverages from grocery stores,
followed by big-box and other stores, with relatively little purchased from convenience
stores. The largest differences between SNAP participants and non-participants were
observed at grocery stores and big-box stores, where SNAP households purchased more
calories from starchy vegetables, processed meat, desserts, sweeteners and toppings,
total junk food, sugar-sweetened beverages, and milk, than income-eligible and higher-income
SNAP non-participants. SNAP purchases also had considerably higher sodium density.
Across store types, the nutritional profile of income-eligible non-participants’ purchases
was similar to higher-income households’ purchases.
Conclusions
More research is needed to identify strategies to improve the nutritional profile
of purchases among SNAP households.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 14, 2018
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Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Journal of Preventive Medicine
