Children’s HealthWatch founder and Principal Investigator, Dr. Deborah Frank, was quoted in a CBS News Money Watch article on the health effects of cutting SNAP benefits.
How poverty and food insecurity make people sick
Being poor isn’t a lot of fun. For starters, it’s more likely to make you sick by the end of each month.
While government benefits are geared to helping low-income Americans stay healthy by putting food on the table, there’s also a downside to receiving food aid: The money comes in only once a month.
What does that mean for low-income Americans? Many are living off fumes by the time the month winds down, as they count down the days until their next Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payment arrives.
Lobbying against a cut in food stamps, doctors warned lawmakers this week that cuts in food assistance are likely to raise health care costs.
“If you’re interested in saving health care costs, the dumbest thing you can do is cut nutrition,” Dr. Deborah Frank of Boston Medical Center, who founded the Children’s HealthWatch pediatric research institute, told The Associated Press.
Food insecurity is just one downside of the widening income gap in the U.S., but it may be poised to become a bigger issue. Lawmakers have reached a deal to cut $9 billion over 10 years from the food stamp program.
