Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2019 Dec;57(6):800-807.
doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2019.07.025.

Supermarket Purchases Over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefit Month: A Comparison Between Participants and Nonparticipants

Rebecca L Franckle  1 , Anne N Thorndike  2 , Alyssa J Moran  3 , Tao Hou  4 , Dan Blue  5 , Julie C Greene  6 , Sara N Bleich  7 , Jason P Block  8 , Michele Polacsek  9 , Eric B Rimm  10
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Supermarket Purchases Over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefit Month: A Comparison Between Participants and Nonparticipants

Rebecca L Franckle et al. Am J Prev Med. 2019 Dec.

Erratum in

Abstract

Introduction: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides financial assistance for food and beverage purchases to approximately 1 in 7 Americans, with benefits distributed once monthly. Most Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are spent early in the month, leading to decreased caloric intake later in the month. The effects of this early benefit depletion on the types of foods and beverages purchased over the course of the month is unclear.

Methods: Using individually tracked sales data from 950 participants enrolled in 2 supermarket-based RCTs in Maine (October 2015-April 2016 and October 2016-June 2017), purchases of selected food categories by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants (n=248) versus nonparticipants (n=702) in the first 2 weeks compared with the last 2 weeks of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit month were examined. Analyses were completed in 2019.

Results: For Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants, adjusted mean food spending decreased 37% from the first 2 weeks to the last 2 weeks of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit month (p<0.0001) compared with a 3% decrease (p=0.02) for nonparticipants. The decline in spending by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants occurred in all examined categories: vegetables (-25%), fruits (-27%), sugar-sweetened beverages (-30%), red meat (-37%), convenience foods (-40%), and poultry (-48%). Difference-in-difference estimators comparing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants with nonparticipants were statistically significant (p<0.05) for all examined categories.

Conclusions: In the second half of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit month, individuals reduced purchases of all examined categories. More research is needed to understand the impact of these fluctuations in spending patterns on the dietary quality of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
CONSORT flow diagram.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Proportion of SNAP participants paying with SNAP benefits by time since distribution of monthly benefits.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation and Costs. www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/pd/SNAPsummary.pdf. Updated April 5, 2019. Accessed April 25, 2019.
    1. Wilde PE, Ranney CK. The monthly food stamp cycle: shopping frequency and food intake decisions in an endogenous switching regression framework. Am J Agric Econ. 2000;82(1):200‒213. 10.1111/0002-9092.00016. - DOI
    1. Hastings J, Washington E. The first of the month effect: consumer behavior and store responses. Am Econ J Econ Policy. 2010;2(2):142‒162. 10.1257/pol.2.2.142. - DOI
    1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Research and Analysis. Benefit Redemption Patterns in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. www.fns.usda.gov/snap/benefit-redemption-patterns-supplemental-nutrition... Published February 2011. Accessed April 25, 2019.
    1. Seligman H, Bolger A, Guzman D, Lopez A, Bibbins-Domingo K. Exhaustion of food budgets at month’s end and hospital admissions for hypoglycemia. Health Aff (Millwood). 2014;33(1):116‒123. 10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0096. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms