More than 46 million Americans are on food stamps — officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — and 4 in 10 of them are obese, according to a study just put out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The study analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2007-2010, looking at the eating habits of SNAP recipients and comparing them with those of people who qualified for the benefits but did not take them and those who did not qualify. It found that SNAP recipients were more likely to be overweight and obese than the other two groups. On average, households received $275 in SNAP benefits per month (or $133 per person).
According to the study, among all Americans, 29 percent are overweight and 31 percent are obese. But 40 percent of SNAP recipients were found to be obese. And adult SNAP recipients were less likely to have a healthy weight than non-recipients, and were more likely to be obese.
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