Research

Nutrition assistance programs are the subject of ongoing policy debates. Two proposals remain uninformed by existing evidence: whether restricting benefits to allow only fruit and vegetable purchases improves overall dietary intake, and whether more frequent distribution of benefits (weekly versus monthly) induces more fruit and vegetable consumption and less purchasing of calorie-dense foods. In a community-based trial, we randomly assigned participants to receive food vouchers that differed in what foods could be purchased (fruit and vegetables only or any foods) and in distribution schedule (in weekly or monthly installments, holding total monthly value constant). The use of vouchers for fruit and vegetables only did not yield significantly greater improvements than the unrestricted voucher did in terms of fruit and vegetable consumption or Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score. Weekly vouchers also failed to yield significantly greater improvements than monthly vouchers did. Proposed policies to make assistance more restricted or more frequent, while holding benefit value constant, might not improve nutrition among low-income Americans.  Access the journal article here.  For more information contact Linda Walker.

There is international consensus that income is a determinant of health, shaping access to basic needs and social determinants of health such as housing, education, and job opportunities. Women and people of color—many of whom provide for families—are more likely to earn low wages and therefore disproportionately experience the adverse health effects of poverty. However, the minimum wage varies between and within states, and the current federal minimum does not keep pace with the costs of basic living needs. Furthermore, current metrics for setting minimum wages inadequately capture the basic necessities for living in full health. Therefore, APHA recommends actions at three levels of governance in support of ensuring livable wages. For example, the federal government should raise the federal minimum wage to allow a four-person household with a single wage earner to live above the poverty line, and individual states and municipalities should consider increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation and the cost of living. In addition, all levels of government should ensure that minimum wage policies benefit the historically underserved populations disproportionately represented among minimum-wage earners, predominantly women and people of color.

This study will explore the health effects of local minimum wage ordinances. Some neighboring cities in the Bay Area, such as Mountain View, have agreed to raise their minimum wages, while others have not. The 3-year study will examine before-and-after effects among workers in cities experiencing the minimum wage increase, as compared to control groups in cities not experiencing the increase, prior to longer-term wage policies slated to take effect statewide.