Assessing the Impact of SNAP-Ed Services on Health Behavior of Low-income Residents in Los Angeles County

Introduction: The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) provides Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention (NEOP) programming to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-eligible residents in Los Angeles County. The Department recently selected ten community-based organizations to provide evidence-based nutrition education. Locally, little is known about nutrition education’s impact as part of a larger obesity prevention initiative which currently includes complementary policy, systems and environmental (PSE) interventions. 

Methods: Changes in nutrition-related behavior and perceived access to healthy environments were assessed via self-administered pre/post intervention surveys. The standard survey included the Food Behavior Checklist and a DPH-supplemental module.

Results: Of the 627 adult program participants, 199 completed the pre/post-test surveys. A majority of these participants were female (84%) and Hispanic (77%). The odds of consuming recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables were 2.4 (95% confidence interval =1.6-3.6) and 1.8 (95% confidence interval = 1.0-3.3) times higher post receipt of education than before exposure to the education services, respectively.  Despite these favorable results, 52% were not meeting recommended standards for fruit consumption and 84% were not meeting vegetable standards. Of the 84% who do not meet vegetable consumption standards, 45% believed their neighborhood stores do not sell fresh produce and 55% indicated fresh produce being too expensive. 

Discussion: While results suggest that evidence-based nutrition education contributes to increases in desired health behavior, many respondents struggled to meet consumption standards. When they come to fruition, complementary PSE strategies may help address this and other potential barriers related to healthy food access and consumption.