title: The impact of the AFDC and Food Stamp programs on child nutrition: empirical evidence from New Orleans.
abstract: This study tests the hypotheses that the participation in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Food Stamp programs has a positive impact on children's nutritional status, after controlling for other potentially important household- and individual-level characteristics. The analysis is based on the responses of a health facility survey of 246 pairs of low-income mothers and children in New Orleans. The results indicate that participation in the AFDC and Food Stamp programs is associated with increased anthropometric status of children, but the foods consumed by children in families receiving welfare benefits were of significantly lower nutritional value than foods consumed by other children. Among the study's conclusions are the following: (1) in this low-income setting, AFDC and Food Stamp benefits are associated with higher food expenditures, higher anthropometric levels, but inferior diets, and (2) female-headed households spend more on food expenditures than other households, after controlling for other individual- and household-level characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Tulane University, USA.
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hotchkiss
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Mock
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McCandless
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karolak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000385:Aid to Families with Dependent Children / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000886:Anthropometry; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D005260:Female; D005522:Food Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011203:Poverty; D015406:Single Parent; D014504:Urban Health