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A handful of lawmakers have proposed banning the purchase of sugary drinks with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Although these attempts have yet to be successful, advocates say a ban like this would reduce chronic disease cause by obesity and excess sugar consumption.
A study published in the June 2014 volume of Health Affairs tested this hypothesis. Researchers examined the impact of two proposed policies: a ban on using SNAP dollars to buy sugar-sweetened beverages; and a subsidy in which for every SNAP dollar spent on fruit and vegetables, thirty cents is credited back to participants’ SNAP benefit cards. Using nationally representative data and models describing obesity, type 2 diabetes, and determinants of food consumption among a sample of over 19,000 SNAP participants, they found that a ban on SNAP purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages would be expected to significantly reduce obesity prevalence and type 2 diabetes incidence, particularly among adults ages 18–65 and some racial and ethnic minorities, like Latinos.
Latinos make up 15% of SNAP participants.
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