Health Policy Brief 1

Policy Brief: Restrict Soft Drink Purchases With EBT Dollars

Yuliya Moroz

Western Washington University

William Lonneman DNP, RN

3/6/17
Health Policy Brief 2

Summary

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, is Americas

anti-hunger program developed to help low-income families have access to nutritious foods

(Pavetti, 2010). Participants who receive food assistance are issued an Electronic Benefits

Transfer (EBT) Card. This card works a lot like a debit card and allows users to purchase food.

About 43 million impoverished Americans utilize EBT dollars (OConnor, 2017). Most recently

the United States Department of Agriculture has shown that the number one spending of EBT

dollars was not on nutritious foods, but on sweetened beverages, which included soft drinks

(USDA, 2016). According to the National Institute of Health (2017), about 68.8% of American

adults are obese. Although soft drinks are currently considered an eligible food item for

Americas nutrition program the consumption of soft drinks has been shown to be correlated with

an increased occurrence of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, metabolic and cardiovascular illness

(Narain, Kwok, Mamas, 2016). I recommend that restrictions be placed on EBT spending not

allowing users to purchase soft drink products with the goal to improve overall health.

Background

The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 defined foods that were eligible for

SNAP/EBT purchase as any food for home consumption. This restricts the purchases of

alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, hot food, and any food sold for on-premises consumption

but not on items such as junk food, soft drink products, and desserts. Soft drinks are mostly made

of sugar, high fructose corn syrup and have no nutritional value; in fact, studies have shown that

they increase obesity (Narain et al., 2016). One study has shown that people who consume sweet

drinks, 1 to 2 cans a day have a 26% greater risk of developing type two diabetes, unlike people
Health Policy Brief 3

who do not (Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health, 2013). About 29 million people in the

United States are diagnosed with type two diabetes(CDC, 2014) and 75 million are diagnosed

with hypertension (CDC, 2016). There is some concern in placing restrictions on purchases with

food stamps such as it can increase stigma and drive away families from using this service

(Carroll, 2016). However, the Women's Infants and Children (WIC) program, which provides

nutrition to pregnant mothers and their children, currently limits purchases to only healthy foods

and there is no evidence that these restrictions are a barrier to utilization of WIC (Carroll, 2016).

Actually, restrictions and incentives can increase healthy eating. One randomized clinical trial

has shown that the implementation of restrictions on less nutritious foods such as soda with an

incentive program increased the intake of foods with increased nutritional quality (Harnack et al.,

2016).

Recommendations

I recommend that action is taken to decrease the consumption of soft drink products as a

nation. Although some may argue that soft drinks will be purchased regardless of restrictions and

it won't solve unhealthy eating habits, I argue that as a nation we shouldnt be supporting the

increased consumption of soft drinks with national funds. Healthy eating starts with the guidance

and support of leaders. We as leaders need to help expand the knowledge and awareness of the

detrimental effects of soft drinks by first placing restrictions. I recommend this change by:

Placing restrictions on the purchase of soft drinks which include any carbonated,

sweetened drink.
Implementing an incentive program concurrently, which would have incentives

offered to consumers with EBT when they purchase fruits and vegetables.
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References

Carroll, A. E. (2016, September 22). How restricting food stamp choices can fight obesity. The New

York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/23/upshot/restrictions-on-food-

stamp-purchases-can-improve-diets.html

CDC. (2014, June 17). Diabetes latest. Retrieved March 9, 2017, from

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/diabetesfactsheet/

CDC. (2016, June 16). High blood pressure fact sheet. Retrieved March 9, 2017, from

https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_bloodpressure.html

Harnack, L., Oakes, J. M., Elbel, B., Beatty, T., Rydell, S., & French, S. (2016). Effects of subsidies

and prohibitions on nutrition in a food benefit program: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA

Internal Medicine, 176(11), 16101619. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.5633

Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health. (2013, September 4). Soft drinks and disease. Retrieved

March 5, 2017, from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/soft-drinks-

and-disease/

Narain, A., Kwok, C. S., & Mamas, M. A. (2016). Soft drinks and sweetened beverages and the risk

of cardiovascular disease and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International

Journal of Clinical Practice, 70(10), 791805. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.12841

OConnor, A. (2017, January 13). In the shopping cart of a food stamp household: Lots of soda. The

New, York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/well/eat/food-stamp-

snap-soda.html
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National Institute of Health (2017) Overweight and obesity statistics. Retrieved January 2017 from

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/Pages/overweight-obesity-

statistics.aspx

USDA. (2016, November). Foods typically purchased by supplemental nutrition assistance program

(SNAP) households. Retrieved March 5, 2017, from

https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/ops/SNAPFoodsTypicallyPurchased-Summary.pdf