Background

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the country’s largest nutrition assistance program for low-income populations. Although SNAP has been shown to reduce food insecurity, research findings on the diet quality of program participants are inconsistent.

Objective

This study evaluated whether the community food environment is a potential moderator of the association between SNAP participation and eating behaviors.

Design

This cross-sectional study used participant data from a telephone survey of 2,211 households in four cities in New Jersey. Data were collected from two cross-sectional panels from 2009 to 2010 and 2014. Food outlet data were purchased from commercial sources and classified as supermarkets, small grocery stores, convenience stores, or limited service restaurants.

Participants/setting

Analysis is limited to 983 respondents (588 SNAP participants) with household incomes below 130% of the federal poverty level.

Main outcome measures

Eating behaviors were assessed as frequency of consumption of fruit, vegetables, salad, and sugar-sweetened beverages.

Statistical analyses performed

Interaction and stratified analyses using gamma regression determined the differences in the association between SNAP participation and eating behaviors by the presence or absence of food outlets adjusted for covariates.

Results

SNAP participation was associated with a higher frequency of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages (P<0.05) when respondents lived within ¼ to ½ mile of a small grocery store, supermarket, and limited service restaurant. SNAP participants who did not live close to a convenience store reported a lower frequency of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (P=0.01), and those living more than ½ mile away from a supermarket reported a lower frequency of fruit consumption (P=0.03).

Conclusions

The findings from this study suggest that the community food environment may play a role in moderating the association between SNAP participation and eating behaviors. Although SNAP participation is associated with some unhealthy behaviors, this association may only hold true when respondents live in certain food environments.

Background: To identify social ecological correlates of objectively measured workplace sedentary behavior.

Methods: Participants from 24 worksites - across academic, industrial, and government sectors - wore an activPAL-micro accelerometer for 7-days (Jan-Nov 2016). Work time was segmented using daily logs. Sedentary behavior outcomes included time spent sitting, standing, in light intensity physical activity (LPA, stepping cadence <100 steps/min), and in prolonged sitting bouts (>30 min). Outcomes were standardized to an 8 h work day. Two electronic surveys were completed to derive individual (job type and work engagement), cultural (lunch away from the desk, walking at lunch and face-to-face interaction), physical (personal printer and office type) and organizational (sector) factors. Mixed-model analyses with worksite-level clustering were performed to examine multi-level associations. Secondary analyses examined job type and sector as moderators of these associations. All models were adjusted for age, race/ethnicity and gender.

Results: Participants (N = 478; 72% female; age: 45.0 ± 11.3 years; 77.8% non-Hispanic white) wore the activPAL-micro for 90.2 ± 15.5% of the reported workday. Walking at lunch was positively associated with LPA (5.0 ± 0.5 min/8 h, P < 0.001). Regular face-to-face interaction was negatively associated with prolonged sitting (−11.3 ± 4.8 min/8 h, P < 0.05). Individuals in private offices sat more (20.1 ± 9.1 min/8 h, P < 0.05), stood less (−21.5 ± 8.8 min/8 h, P < 0.05), and engaged in more prolonged sitting (40.9 ± 11.2 min/8 h, P < 0.001) than those in public office space. These associations were further modified by job type and sector.

Conclusions: Work-specific individual, cultural, physical and organizational factors are associated with workplace sedentary behavior. Associations vary by job type and sector and should be considered in the design of workplace interventions to reduce sedentary behavior.