U.S. Food and Nutrition Programs (WP-15-21)
Hilary Hoynes and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach
Concerns about adequate nutrition figure prominently in discussions of the health and wellbeing of America’s disadvantaged populations. At the same time, Americans’ diet quality has been persistently low and unchanging over time and more than a third of adults and 17 percent of children are obese. To address these problems, a range of U.S. food and nutrition programs are provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In this survey, the researchers focus on the four largest of these programs, including Supplemental Nutrition Access Program (SNAP, previously known as Food Stamps), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC), the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP).