USDA's nutrition assistance programs touch the lives of one in four American consumers annually and the nutrition education efforts associated with select programs offer a powerful opportunity to promote food security and improve dietary quality among eligible individuals and families.

This study is the fourth in a series that uses the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data to examine the relationship between SNAP participation and indicators of diet quality, nutrition, and health. As in previous studies, this study compares SNAP participants with income-eligible and higher income nonparticipants, by age and gender.

The purpose of this study was to examine how to define “adequacy” of SNAP allotments objectively in the context of program goals to improve food security and access to a healthy diet, existing data sources that could inform an assessment of the adequacy of existing and potential alternative SNAP allotments, and new data requirements to strengthen the evidence-base and allow for further rigorous analyses. 

This study, Models of SNAP Education and Evaluation (Wave I), is the first of two FNS-initiated independent evaluations designed to identify potential models of effective SNAP-Ed nutrition education and impact evaluation.

The Workshop on Understanding the Relationship Between Food Insecurity and Obesity, held in Washington, DC, from Nov. 16 -18, 2010, was designed to provide an opportunity to explore and illuminate the relationship between food insecurity and obesity, the current state of research, and data and analyses needed to advance understanding of the relationship as a way of countering both hunger and obesity in the United States.