SNAP Participation Moderates Fruit and Vegetable Intake Among Minority Families With Low Income.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the moderation effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation on the baseline fruit and vegetable (FV) intake of Hispanic/Latino and African American children and parents participating in the Brighter Bites program.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

SETTING

Houston, Austin, and Dallas, TX; Washington, DC; and Southwest Florida.

PARTICIPANTS

Self-reported surveys (n = 6,037) of Hispanic/Latino and African American adult-child dyads enrolled in Brighter Bites in Fall 2018.

VARIABLES MEASURED

Dependent variable, child FV intake; Independent variable, parent FV intake, and FV shopping behavior; Effect Measure Modifier, SNAP participation.

ANALYSIS

Quantitatively used mixed effects linear regression models to test if the effect of parental baseline FV intake and shopping behavior on a child's baseline FV intake differed by SNAP participation. Analyses were performed using STATA with significance set at P < 0.05 and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS

For parents that consumed FV ≥ 2 times/d at baseline, there was a 0.1 times increase in child FV intake at baseline among those who participated in SNAP as compared with those who did not participate in SNAP (ß = 0.1; 95% CI, 0.1-0.2; P = 0.001), and for parents who shopped at convenience stores ≥ 2 times/wk for FV, there was 0.6 times increase in child FV intake at baseline for those who participated in SNAP as compared with those that did not participate in SNAP (ß = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.3-0.9; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation moderated the associations between FV intake among African American and Hispanic/Latino parents and children and FV shopping at convenience stores and child FV intake. Findings indicate a need for future interventions to promote SNAP participation among those eligible and improve access to FV.