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Summary Study says that having food stamps doesn't encourage families with kids to buy more drinks.
Despite hopes that the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can steer people toward healthier eating choices, theres no evidence the program currently influences - for better or worse - how many sugary drinks kids consume, according to a new study.When children from families participating in the federal assistance program for poor families, commonly known as food stamps, were compared to peers not in SNAP, there was no significant difference in how much milk, soda and fruit juice the kids drank.The findings dont mean that banning the use of food stamps to buy sweetened beverages, as some have proposed, wouldnt cut down on their consumption.But the results do suggest at least that having food stamps doesnt encourage families with kids to buy more unhealthy drinks, according to the report in the August issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.In short, SNAP does not affect beverage consumption among low-income children, said Meenakshi Fernandes, the studys author and a senior analyst at the health and policy research organization Abt Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts.SNAP provides - on average - about $284 per month for people with low incomes to use at grocery stores on food. Purchases of alcohol, tobacco and other non-food items are not permitted.
