The Food Stamp Program : study of nutritional benefits

This was a quantitative descriptive study comparing the nutritional status of participants in the Food Stamp Program to nonparticipants in the program. A systematic random sampling procedure was used in selecting the Food Stamp Participant Group of 25 respondents from the Department of Human Service, Shelby County Computer roles. A random, though not systematic, procedure was used in selecting the 25 respondents in the Food Stamp Nonparticipant Group. All respondents were Black and remained anonymous.

The researcher administered a questionnaire through personal interviews with the respondents from September through November, 1979. The data collected was coded for computer analysis on the (sPss) Statistical Package for Social Science and the Vanderbilt University Statistical Package of Computer Programs.

The major findings revealed that no difference existed between the two groups of respondents in terms of their nutritional status. . However, there did exist a relationship between the nutritional knowledge possessed by the respondent and food consumption. No relationship existed between sociodemographic variables (such as age, sex of household head, income, etc.) and the nutritional status of respondents.

Conclusions suggested that Food Stamp nonparticipants in Shelby County, Tennessee, were just as aware of basic nutrition facts as participants in the program. Food Stamp nonparticipants consumed meals equivalent nutritionally to those using food coupons and perceive themselves to be just as healthy as Food Stamp participants. The nutritional information possessed by both groups of families appeared to have a tendency to filter into the types of foods that the respondents consumed.