Food security among SNAP participants 2019 to 2021: A cross-sectional analysis of current population survey food security supplement data

Patrick J. Brady; Lisa Harnack; Rachel Widome; Kaitlyn M. Berry; Sruthi Valluri

doi:10.1017/jns.2023.32

Food security among SNAP participants 2019 to 2021: A cross-sectional analysis of current population survey food security supplement data

Patrick J. Brady, Lisa Harnack, Rachel Widome, Kaitlyn M. Berry, Sruthi Valluri

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Surveillance data indicate that food security rates increased among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 and 2021) compared with pre-pandemic (2019), but this could have been due to increased participation from better resourced households. Our objective was to examine if demographic differences between SNAP-participating households in each year were responsible for the increased prevalence of food secure households. We calculated the observed 30-d food security prevalence among SNAP-participating households for each year. We used indirect standardisation to produce expected 2020 and 2021 prevalences with 2019 as the standard population using household size, income, age, sex, race, Hispanic ethnicity, presence of children, single parent household, metropolitan status and census region. We calculated standardised prevalence ratios (SPRs) to understand if the observed prevalence was higher than expected given any changes in the demographic profile compared to 2019. The Current Population Survey data were collected by the United States Census Bureau and Department of Agriculture. Our sample included 5,245 SNAP-participating households. The observed prevalence of food secure households increased by 3⋅6 percentage points comparing 2019 to 2020 (SPR = 1⋅06, 95 % confidence interval = 1⋅00, 1⋅11) and by 8⋅6 percentage comparing 2019 to 2021 (SPR = 1⋅13, 95 % confidence interval = 1⋅07, 1⋅18). The greater prevalence of food secure SNAP households during the pandemic did not appear to be attributable to socio-demographic differences compared to pre-pandemic. Despite hesitance among policymakers to expand or enhance social safety net programmes, permanently incorporating COVID-19-related policy interventions could lessen food insecurity in years to come.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e45
Journal	Journal of Nutritional Science
Volume	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2023.32
State	Published - Apr 11 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the Minnesota Population Center (P2C HD041023) and the use of the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series Current Population Survey (R01HD067258) both funded through grants from NICHD. PJB is supported by Award Number T32DK083250 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). KMB is supported by Award Number F31HD107980 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). SV is supported by Award Number T32GM008244 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NIDDK, NICHD, NIGMS, or National Institutes of Health. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. All authors made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study. PJB and LH conceptualized the study. All authors contributed to the study design and analysis. PJB and LH wrote the first draft. All authors revised subsequent drafts and gave final approval of the work. This study was not human subjects research.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Nutrition Society.

Keywords

Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement
Food insecurity
Food security
SNAP
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

PubMed: MeSH publication types

Journal Article
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1017/jns.2023.32

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abstract = "Surveillance data indicate that food security rates increased among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 and 2021) compared with pre-pandemic (2019), but this could have been due to increased participation from better resourced households. Our objective was to examine if demographic differences between SNAP-participating households in each year were responsible for the increased prevalence of food secure households. We calculated the observed 30-d food security prevalence among SNAP-participating households for each year. We used indirect standardisation to produce expected 2020 and 2021 prevalences with 2019 as the standard population using household size, income, age, sex, race, Hispanic ethnicity, presence of children, single parent household, metropolitan status and census region. We calculated standardised prevalence ratios (SPRs) to understand if the observed prevalence was higher than expected given any changes in the demographic profile compared to 2019. The Current Population Survey data were collected by the United States Census Bureau and Department of Agriculture. Our sample included 5,245 SNAP-participating households. The observed prevalence of food secure households increased by 3⋅6 percentage points comparing 2019 to 2020 (SPR = 1⋅06, 95 % confidence interval = 1⋅00, 1⋅11) and by 8⋅6 percentage comparing 2019 to 2021 (SPR = 1⋅13, 95 % confidence interval = 1⋅07, 1⋅18). The greater prevalence of food secure SNAP households during the pandemic did not appear to be attributable to socio-demographic differences compared to pre-pandemic. Despite hesitance among policymakers to expand or enhance social safety net programmes, permanently incorporating COVID-19-related policy interventions could lessen food insecurity in years to come.",

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author = "Brady, {Patrick J.} and Lisa Harnack and Rachel Widome and Berry, {Kaitlyn M.} and Sruthi Valluri",

note = "Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the Minnesota Population Center (P2C HD041023) and the use of the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series Current Population Survey (R01HD067258) both funded through grants from NICHD. PJB is supported by Award Number T32DK083250 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). KMB is supported by Award Number F31HD107980 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). SV is supported by Award Number T32GM008244 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NIDDK, NICHD, NIGMS, or National Institutes of Health. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. All authors made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study. PJB and LH conceptualized the study. All authors contributed to the study design and analysis. PJB and LH wrote the first draft. All authors revised subsequent drafts and gave final approval of the work. This study was not human subjects research. Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Nutrition Society.",

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N2 - Surveillance data indicate that food security rates increased among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 and 2021) compared with pre-pandemic (2019), but this could have been due to increased participation from better resourced households. Our objective was to examine if demographic differences between SNAP-participating households in each year were responsible for the increased prevalence of food secure households. We calculated the observed 30-d food security prevalence among SNAP-participating households for each year. We used indirect standardisation to produce expected 2020 and 2021 prevalences with 2019 as the standard population using household size, income, age, sex, race, Hispanic ethnicity, presence of children, single parent household, metropolitan status and census region. We calculated standardised prevalence ratios (SPRs) to understand if the observed prevalence was higher than expected given any changes in the demographic profile compared to 2019. The Current Population Survey data were collected by the United States Census Bureau and Department of Agriculture. Our sample included 5,245 SNAP-participating households. The observed prevalence of food secure households increased by 3⋅6 percentage points comparing 2019 to 2020 (SPR = 1⋅06, 95 % confidence interval = 1⋅00, 1⋅11) and by 8⋅6 percentage comparing 2019 to 2021 (SPR = 1⋅13, 95 % confidence interval = 1⋅07, 1⋅18). The greater prevalence of food secure SNAP households during the pandemic did not appear to be attributable to socio-demographic differences compared to pre-pandemic. Despite hesitance among policymakers to expand or enhance social safety net programmes, permanently incorporating COVID-19-related policy interventions could lessen food insecurity in years to come.

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Food security among SNAP participants 2019 to 2021: A cross-sectional analysis of current population survey food security supplement data

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

PubMed: MeSH publication types

UN SDGs

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