This report provides a comprehensive review and synthesis of published research on the impact of USDA's domestic food and nutrition assistance programs on participants' nutrition and health outcomes. The outcome measures reviewed include food expenditures, household nutrient availability,...

The purpose of this study is to identify whether spending more money on food leads Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other low-income households to purchase and consume more nutritious foods. Specifically, the study analyzed the percentage and absolute change in diet-quality...

Whether food demand is "converging" is tested in two ways. First, the convergence of food expenditures among 18 high-income countries is examined from 1990 to 2004. Convergence is apparent in total expenditures, cereals, and meats, even after correcting for differences in income and levels of...

In this paper we discuss the wide disparities that exist in childhood malnutrition, food insecurity and livelihoods within urban areas which, when combined with the mobility of urban residents, add to the complexity of designing, targeting and implementing urban programmes. Livelihood security...

We analyze the inter-relationships between body weight outcomes and food expenditures among older Europeans using a simultaneous equation model. Several statistical tests were conducted to assess endogeneity of selected variables, the exogeneity, relevance, and validity of instruments used, and...

Energy is an important input in growing, processing, packaging, distributing, storing, preparing, serving, and disposing of food. Analysis using the two most recent U.S. benchmark input-output accounts and a national energy data system shows that in the United States, use of energy along the...

Households have a number of needs and wants that all compete for scarce resources. Given this situation, are low-income households, in particular, generally willing and able to budget for healthful foods like fruits and vegetables, or are other goods and services, including other foods, more of...

Average yearly expenditures on food in U.S. urban households increased between 2003 and 2004. Over the period, annual per capita spending on food rose from $2,035 to $2,207. The 2004 average comprises $1,347 spent on food consumed at home and $860 spent on food consumed away from home. These...

The cost of “enough food,” estimated from the amount that low- and medium-income households in a geographic area report needing to spend to just meet their food needs, differs substantially across States and among metropolitan areas. In areas with high food costs, many food-stamp recipients...

Significant regional differences in food prices affect how far food stamp benefits can go toward enhancing the diet of low-income consumers in a given region. In regions where average food prices exceed the national average, food stamp benefits may not provide the same level of coverage as the...