Report: Poor Find It Hard to Afford Heart-Healthy Foods

A new study finds that recipients have trouble with access, transportation and time.

TUESDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDayNews) -- A small study conducted in a Boston neighborhood highlights the difficulty of affording heart-healthy food when you're a beneficiary of food stamps.

A family of four receiving food stamps came up $227 short for the month, while seniors living alone came up $103 short.

The study of black seniors and families in Roxbury, Mass., an inner-city neighborhood of Boston, was presented Tuesday at the American Heart Association's scientific sessions in New Orleans.

"Access to healthy food is a struggle," said study co-author Dr. Paula Johnson, chief of the division of women's health at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. In addition to money, transportation and time were also significant hurdles.

Ethnic and racial minorities, as well as low-income groups, bear a disproportionate burden when it comes to various health issues. "Low socioeconomic status is associated with many of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and lack of physical activity," Johnson said.

"Typically, we do see lower socioeconomic groups bearing a larger health burden," agreed Debbie Strong, a cardiovascular dietician at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans.

Roxbury is one of the poorest sections of Boston, with 27 percent of its residents living below the federal poverty level. More than half self-identify as black, and many report having some of the worst lifestyle habits in Boston.

The researchers conducted two sets of focus groups, one with six black women who had children under the age of 18 and the other with six black women aged 65 or older who were living alone.

Information on food preferences, preparation, cost and access issues gathered during these interviews were used to develop a set of heart-healthy, seven-day menus.

"We then looked at what it would cost for groceries for a month," Johnson explained. "We went to different grocery stores, used the lowest-cost ingredients, and also did some substitutions, then compared it to the maximum food stamp benefits in Massachusetts."

Based on these menus, the average monthly food cost was calculated to be $242 for a senior living alone, and $692 for a family of four. Maximum food stamp benefits in the state of Massachusetts are $139 for individuals and $465 for a family of four.

In addition to being an information-gathering venture, the study process also turned out to be an intervention.

Participants were given tips on healthier eating (2 percent milk instead of whole; tuna instead of luncheon meat).

"Their baseline knowledge of substitutions was not good, and it was tough making ends meet in terms of diet, period," Johnson said. "They do understand some of the problems, but they didn't have the tools to get to a new point."

The researchers are hoping this type of work may become a model for other communities, and are planning a similar study with Latina women in Jamaica Plain, another Boston neighborhood.

They are also hoping to catch the eye of national agencies, such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Office of Minority Health. "We are trying to merge scientific data with public health," Johnson said. "How do you take information from these studies to people who will hear it, and form coalitions to do something?"

"This will be important in Boston, but we need to create this type of information around the country," she continued. "The implication is to develop policy that will help people lead healthy lives."

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter