Study: Food stamps limit choices for healthy diets

The tab was high for groceries on model menus.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Many people who get food stamps can't afford to buy heart-healthy foods in their neighborhoods, according to a study in a Boston community, researchers reported Tuesday.
They found that black residents of Roxbury would need to spend about $227 a month for a family of four above their food-stamp benefits to make heart-healthy foods part of their daily diet. A senior living alone would have to spend about $103 extra.
Roxbury is one of Boston's poorest neighborhoods, with 27 percent of residents living below the federal poverty line ($775 a month for an individual; $1,570 for a family of four). According to their own reports, people living there have some of the worst lifestyle habits in the city.
"Low-income people in this particular community who receive food stamps have very limited access to a culturally appropriate diet filled with heart-healthy foods," said Rachel Fulp, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease in Women at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Food cost can be a significant barrier to developing and maintaining healthy lifestyle behaviors."
Study's results
She presented the results of the study before an American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans.
The study involved extensive focus group testing with six women who had children under the age of 18 and six women 65 or older living alone. After the discussions, a series of model menus was developed based on household food preferences, preparation, cost and access.
Menus were then translated into shopping lists and food prices were checked at two large local grocery stores where the women typically shopped to come up with average daily and monthly food costs.
"We found out what participants would eat on a regular basis and adjusted the recipes to make the dishes healthier without sacrificing taste," Fulp said. The menus used a lot of regular items, like ordinary margarine, maple syrup and 2 percent milk, along with healthier items.
"We wanted to develop menus that real women would use, so we thought it was imperative not to eliminate all of the foods that the focus-group members enjoyed."
But the tab for those foods relative to the food-stamp grocery budget was disappointing. The average monthly food cost for a senior living alone came to $242, and $692 for a family of four. Maximum food-stamp benefits in Massachusetts are $139 for an individual and $465 for a family of four. Nationwide in 2003, the average monthly household benefit from food stamps was $195.
The researchers are working with state food-stamp-program officials and community groups and businesses to try and improve availability of healthier choices to those on food stamps, Fulp said.