THE
IMPACT OF FOOD STAMP REFORMS
ON ELDERLY IN MISSISSIPPI
Sheri
L. Lokken and Kristin J. Hope, Mississippi State University
House
Bill 3734 (1996) will cut food stamp benefits for households that include
elderly members by $2 billion over six years. Little attention
has been paid to the effects of these cutbacks on low-income elderly.
The purpose of this study was to explore the following issues:
(a) whether the amount of food stamps currently received is adequate,
(b) the effects food stamp reforms will have on the elderly, (c) the
degree of hunger and food insecurity as well as the nutritional practices
among low-income elderly in Mississippi, and (d) the characteristics
of high-risk elderly populations.
The
target population for this study was low-income elderly in the State
of Mississippi. Students from two gerontology classes at Mississippi
State University assisted with data collection. In Fall 1998,
10 students from the Consumer Aspects of Aging class conducted 62 face-to-face
interviews with low-income elderly. The results from this qualitative
data collection were used to develop a telephone survey that was conducted
by 21 Introduction to Gerontology students in Spring 1999. The
telephone survey incorporated the Nutrition Screening Initiative checklist
and the Block Brief Food Frequency questionnaires for fat and fruit/vegetable
intake, along with other food insecurity measures. A sample of
212 low-income elderly was attained.
The
null hypotheses for the study were: (1) There is no difference
in hunger, food insecurity, or nutritional risk of low-income elderly
living in Mississippi on or off food assistance, and (2) There are no
risk factors of low-income elderly in Mississippi that predict level
of hunger, food insecurity, or nutritional risk. Additional sub-hypotheses
for the purpose of graduate student research included diet quality,
BMI, and demographic characteristics.
Hypothesis
one was tested by performing an ANOVA comparing the means for the Nutrition
Screening Initiative scores (measure of nutritional risk) for those
on food assistance and those not on food assistance. An ANOVA
was also performed on the mean hunger food insecurity scores for both
groups. In both cases the null hypothesis was rejected and it
was discovered that individuals on food assistance were at higher nutritional
risk and were at higher levels of hunger and food insecurity.
Hypothesis
two was tested by running a regression analysis to determine the best
model predicting nutritional risk and another was run to determine the
best model predicting high hunger and food insecurity. In both
cases the variables with the highest prediction were ethnicity and whether
or not the individual was currently receiving food assistance.
The
results of this study indicate that the amount of food assistance currently
received by elderly is inadequate. These individuals are at higher
risk of hunger, food insecurity, and nutritional risk. Nutrition
education programs targeted at low-income elderly, particularly minorities,
need to be investigated.
Funding
for this project provided by the USDA Economic Research Service.
Contact
person:
Sheri Lokken, PhD
School of Human Sciences
P.O. Box 9745
Mississippi State, MS 39762
Telephone: 601/ 325/0918
Fax: 601/ 325/8188
E-mail: slokken@humansci.msstate.edu
