Research suggests that reducing food aid could not only increase hunger, but also undermine public health. In a six-year study, Children’s HealthWatch, a nonpartisan pediatric research center, recently found that young children in families that got SNAP benefits were at significantly lower risk of being underweight, which is linked with poor nutrition, and of developmental delays. That jibes with research by Northwestern University economist Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach. She has found that since food stamps were introduced in the 1960s, women in the program have seen a reduction in low-weight births and a decrease in infant mortality.

Families that get food stamps are also able to eat more healthfully and are less likely to skip doctor’s visits to pay for food, housing and other basic needs. “Increasing SNAP benefit levels improves family diet quality and children’s health,” the authors of the Children’s HealthWatch report wrote.

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