The effect of food stamps on fibre intake

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of food stamps on fibre intake, using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES), and a matching estimator to address possible endogeneity of food stamp participation with respect to dietary behaviour. Results suggest that food stamps reduce fibre intake by approximately 11 per cent. Food stamps also reduce the probability of reaching the daily recommended 20-gramme threshold by 18 per cent. But why do food stamps reduce fibre intake? A long-running concern is that, despite restrictions preventing food stamp recipients from using them at fast food/pizzas establishments, the fungible nature of household budgets might produce a link between food stamps and the consumption of such low-fibre fare. However, the data do not support that conjecture. Rather, the reason for reduced fibre intake appears to be that food stamp enrolees consume 50 per cent fewer servings of legumes (beans) and 30 per cent fewer servings of pasta/rice. Those foods, long associated with low-income diets, also happen to be rich in fibre.