Food Security among Households with Children in Indiana Improved Following a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—Education Intervention

Abstract

ObjectiveThe effects of a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program‐Education (SNAP‐Ed) intervention on the food security of households with children in Indiana were determined.MethodsA randomized, controlled, intervention study design using SNAP‐Ed as the intervention was implemented throughout Indiana from 8/2013 to 2/2014. Five hundred sixty SNAP‐Ed eligible participants 蠅18y were recruited and randomly allocated to receive 蠅4 SNAP‐Ed lessons or not during the 4 to 10 week study period, before and after which they also completed the 18‐item US Household Food Security Survey Module to assess food security status and a characteristics questionnaire. Analysis of covariance modeling, adjusted for participant and household characteristics, was used to determine changes in household food security status (p蠄0.05).ResultsThe mean household food security improvement from before compared with after the study period was greater in the intervention (‐1.0, s=3.3) compared with the control group (‐0.4, s=2.7) in simple (p=0.04) and adjusted models (β= ‐0.7, p=0.03).ConclusionThe SNAP‐Ed program is an effective intervention to improve food security in households with children in Indiana over a short‐term period.Funding This project was supported with a grant from the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research through funding by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, contract number AG‐3198‐S‐12‐0044.