Newswise — The Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB) released the following statement regarding the nutrition education component of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as SNAP-Ed.
SNEB applauds Congressional efforts to more fully understand the benefits of SNAP, and in particular its efforts to promote and sustain a robust nutrition education program for the 90 million people who are to be served by SNAP-Ed. As nutrition educators working in academia, the community, cooperative extension, government and the private sector, SNEB is keenly aware of the importance of coupling food assistance programs with resources, tools and information about eating nutrient-rich foods with large-scale approaches that foster and support healthy new behaviors.
Lower-income Americans face high rates of food insecurity and chronic disease. Low resource communities often lack basics like food stores, parks and community programs that foster healthy lifestyles. The new online publication, SNAP-Ed Strategies & Interventions: An Obesity Prevention Toolkit for States (2016), contains dozens of new, evidence-based interventions that help individuals, organizations, and communities support healthy eating and active lifestyles. SNAP-Ed’s programs and infrastructure have empowered countless Americans leverage their financial resources for healthy eating while also promoting active lifestyles.
Two SNEB members testified at today’s hearing. Dr. Jo Britt-Rankin, Associate Dean of Human Environmental Sciences and Extension Professor in the Department of Nutrition & Exercise Physiology at University of Missouri Extension spoke on land-grant universities and Cooperative Extension’s delivery of SNAP-Ed, including their increasing use of community and statewide partnerships. Susan Foerster, MPH, formerly with the Network for a Healthy California (Ret) and now an Emeritus leader with Association of State Nutrition Network Administrators (ASNNA), described the reach of SNAP-Ed and how its history led to the development of the landmark SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework and its companion Interpretive Guide (June 2016). They are intended to help the diverse programs funded by SNAP-Ed capture outcomes and document SNAP-Ed’s contributions across the country.
SNAP-Ed is emerging as a critical arm of SNAP, and one goal is to find ways to complement other programs like the Women, Infants and Children Program or Head Start, the National School Lunch Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. Individuals eligible for these programs are also eligible for SNAP-Ed, so together theses programs could leverage individual impacts into much larger collective impacts. Just as these programs address the needs of discreet populations, the messages and methods will vary by program and audience. The key to optimizing program outcomes is to ensure that program leaders and educators at the federal, state and local levels are joining efforts to speak with one voice, share best practices, resources and approaches. Nutrition education provided through SNAP-Ed is research-based, tailored to its audiences, and adaptable to different settings. It has found that, in addition to individual and group based nutrition education, comprehensive, multi-level interventions and community and public health approaches are essential to help those eligible for SNAP make healthy food choices with a limited budget.
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