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It seems to correlate the stresses of living in poverty, mental health, and lack of education contribute to poor health choices in general thus also poor eating habits. Keep in mind professional help for all these factors are less accessible to those in poverty. Whether or not that population is more likely to be on SNAP or SNAP contributes to those stressors and health choices is unknowable in the study. Also note in the conclusion they mentioned another study that indicates that limiting unhealthy foods that qualify for SNAP would help the obesity problem. The study agrees with that assessment.
My personal experience as a child was much like the poster you responded too.... Many children in my classroom had a copious amount of meals from fast food and other unhealthy sources. In my case, I was a latch key kid and TV dinners was the norm for me as both my parents worked long hours. For me that was "Healthy" eating.. after all it looked healthy (on the box). Fortunately, that changed as I grew old enough to cook and my family's financial situation improved. The more my parents were around, the better I was being raised and "educated".
Currently there is a McDonalds in a poorer town (just a couple down form mine) selling a bucket of 50 chicken nuggets for just over $10. Think about that... you can feed a 4-5 person family with that in a pinch. The same deal is not available in my current town's McDonald's but of course I'm not in a poor neighborhood. Why is that? (we know why). Some will say, "yeh.. I could do a family 4-5 cooking a healthy meal". I agree.. yes.. I do all the time now.. well kinda (I like nicer cuts of meat.. and I can afford it). With what time? With what energy (when you are working multiple jobs)? and who was around to pass that knowledge or teach those skills?
Much like many factors that people like to pick on against the poor, they talk about those factors in isolation which makes it easy to pick apart, cherry pick reasons, to point fingers back. Obesity? Pregnancy? etc.. the answer is just do "eat more healthy and practice safe sex". but no one bothers to ask the "why". In reality, all the factors are inter-related with each other and contribute to the pit of poverty that is difficult to climb. My personal feelings is in general it is all pointed back to education and environmental... both are horribly lacking from where I started my life when compared to where I ended up.
The problem with that theory, and why it's wrong, is the USDA's findings that:
"SNAP participants were more likely to be obese than income-eligible nonparticipants who were matched in economic and demographic characteristics (46 percent versus 36 percent). There were no statistically significant differences in diet quality."
Food Stamp recipients simply have access to too much food because of the free food assistance, and overeat to a much greater extent.
It comes down to not all people are the same. One size does not fit all. Some will succeed in worst of times. Some will fail in best of times.
But if you are running a country, it tends to work out better if the economy is set up to benefit the largest number keeping wage spread as narrow as possible. Giving all the wealth to the top 5% is only good if you are one of those top 5%.
So what’s wrong with them? Why so many of them can’t make it?
1) This girl spoke English when she came to the United States, just not very well.
2) How do you think this girl got here? She wasn't an illegal immigrant. She came here for college and never left. And who paid for her college?
3) Did affirmative-action play any role in her "success"?
4) Not everyone can work for NASA. So what do you mean by "make it"?
The problem with that theory, and why it's wrong, is the USDA's findings that:
"SNAP participants were more likely to be obese than income-eligible nonparticipants who were matched in economic and demographic characteristics (46 percent versus 36 percent). There were no statistically significant differences in diet quality."
Food Stamp recipients simply have access to too much food because of the free food assistance, and overeat to a much greater extent.
You don't really know which finding is wrong. Its easy to simply take the findings of one or the other simply because it backs your views or is a comfortable conclusion for one to accept; Confirmation bias. Both studies compare with others of similar demographic/economic status groups. In this case, I think most of us would eat a bit more if we went through periods of hunger or stress over the next meal. Overeating, binge-eating, and other forms of unhealthy consumption of food is often a symptom of mental illnesses and other stressors. It is important to note they don't conclude which came first.. the cause which lead to being in a living situation that necessitates SNAP enrollment or vice versa. I personally think you'll find both in the tested group. For example, many war veterans and their families are on SNAP. I'm pretty sure their circumstances are more often than not the result of disabilities from combat.
When matching economic and demographic characteristics it is important to note why those that were eligible but non-participating in SNAP. Again.. there is a stigma with being on SNAP. I recall one child in my later school was on food supplementary program (no idea why.. it was an affluent area) and the child chose not to eat rather than reveal themselves. Of course, I can understands parents going through the same hesitations.
I personally feel that the SNAP program should be less a financial supplement program (albeit targeted towards food) and more of a food distribution program (of which would be healthier options). I had a lengthy discussion with someone regarding many years ago. The option was abandoned because it turns out food distribution (storage, logistics, transportation, managing) was too expensive for a government program to undertake when compared to leveraging private food chains which are specifically setup for such. Of course, this means that we don't know how food stamps are utilized.... that includes cigarettes. Since there is monetary value to food stamps there are also crime elements that evolve around them as well.
Its easy to conclude "they just eat too much". But as with my last statement in that post, pick and choose issues to poke in isolation and avoid the discussion around the more important part "why". USDAs study avoids that discussion....
"SNAP participants were more likely to be obese than income-eligible nonparticipants who were matched in economic and demographic characteristics (46 percent versus 36 percent). There were no statistically significant differences in diet quality."
The BIG difference between the two groups? Food Stamp recipients simply have access to too much food because of the free food assistance, and overeat to a much greater extent. Note that the USDA specifically states that "there were no statistically significant differences in diet quality." The Food Stamps recipients just overate more due to increased access to food.
"SNAP participants were more likely to be obese than income-eligible nonparticipants who were matched in economic and demographic characteristics (46 percent versus 36 percent). There were no statistically significant differences in diet quality."
The BIG difference between the two groups? Food Stamp recipients simply have access to too much food because of the free food assistance, and overeat to a much greater extent. Note that the USDA specifically states that "there were no statistically significant differences in diet quality." The Food Stamps recipients just overate more due to increased access to food.
You repeat yourself doesn't mean it is necessarily true. You just prefer USDA findings... I don't really know which study is more solid but I do know the other study attempts at the "why". The conclusion of the latter study indicates that things can be improved by incentives for healthier choices... that in of itself implies that without those incentives (current state of the program) the diet quality isn't the same.
I am having hard time believing that people want to live poor on purpose.
Nobody wants to live poor on purpose, but many are lacking the motivation, discipline, work ethic, and/or capability to rise above it. OTOH, there are many who DO have those traits, and have thus moved from poverty to middle-class life, or even affluence. It's happened in my own family - two generations up. The grandparents had no high school diplomas and lived in poverty while raising children during the Great Depression. Within 25 years, all their children graduated from college, and even grad school.
You repeat yourself doesn't mean it is necessarily true. You just prefer USDA findings... I don't really know which study is more solid but I do know the other study attempts at the "why".
The study you posted theorizes the "why" by guessing, presenting no solid evidence gleaned from the study itself. Looking at the data, the USDA came to the conclusion that while the two groups' economic and demographic characteristics and diet quality were the same, one group was eating more than the other and consequently had a 28% higher obesity rate: those who receive Food Stamps.
I think we should have food vouchers, redeemable only for ground beef, chicken, light canned tuna, peanut butter, sugarless jam, eggs, canned or frozen vegetables, juice, canned fruit, milk, cheese, wheat bread, boxes of certain healthy cereals, and bags of those $2 salads. You can eat a very good diet on this (I've been doing it all year, during the pandemic), and indefinitely.
Watch the obesity rate drop within 6 months.
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