SNAP Saves Nation Money in Long Run, Researchers Say

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is one of the United States' most cost-effective health programs, pediatricians from Boston Medical Center (BMC) wrote in the journal Lancet.

The physicians even went so far as to argue that the program saves the nation money in the long run.

Lead author Dr. Deborah Frank, the director of the Grow Clinic for Children at BMC and both founder and principal investigator of Children's HealthWatch, called SNAP a "vaccine against food insecurity and hunger."

For more than a decade, Children's HealthWatch has gathered data on the effects of food insecurity on infants and young children.

"Infants and young children in the first three years of life, the most critical period for the growth of the body and brain, are the most physiologically vulnerable to lasting ill effects of food insecurity on health and learning," Frank explained.

In all, approximately 16 million US children, or just a little more than 21 percent, are affected by food insecurity, according to Frank, making it one of the greatest public health threats facing the nation.

"SNAP is the most important and effective public health program we have for reducing the health impacts of food insecurity," Frank said.

According to the researchers, this is evident by the fact that in households with children, SNAP lowers the risk of anemia, obesity, developmental delays, low academic test scores, reports of child abuse or neglect and overall poor health.

"Scientific evidence shows that SNAP is a wise investment in the brains and bodies of American children, an investment that should be increased, not curtailed," Frank said.

The report comes at a time when legislators have targeted the program for cuts when addressing the federal budget.