TY - JOUR T1 - Grocery store beverage choices by participants in federal food assistance and nutrition programs. AU - Andreyeva,Tatiana, AU - Luedicke,Joerg, AU - Henderson,Kathryn E, AU - Tripp,Amanda S, PY - 2012/03/16/received PY - 2012/05/03/revised PY - 2012/06/11/accepted PY - 2012/9/21/entrez PY - 2012/9/21/pubmed PY - 2013/2/14/medline SP - 411 EP - 8 JF - American journal of preventive medicine JO - Am J Prev Med VL - 43 IS - 4 N2 - BACKGROUND: Sugar-sweetened beverages are a target for reduction in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Concerns have been raised about sugar-sweetened beverages purchased with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. PURPOSE: This paper describes purchases of non-alcoholic refreshment beverages among participants in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and SNAP. METHODS: Grocery store scanner data from a regional supermarket chain were used to assess refreshment beverage purchases of 39,172 households in January-June 2011. The sample consisted of families with a history of WIC participation in 2009-2011; about half also participated in SNAP. Beverage spending and volume purchased were compared for WIC sampled households either using SNAP benefits (SNAP) or not (WIC-only). Analyses were completed in 2012. RESULTS: Refreshment beverages were a significant contributor to expenditure on groceries by SNAP and WIC households. Sugar-sweetened beverages accounted for 58% of refreshment beverage purchases made by SNAP households and 48% of purchases by WIC-only households. Soft drinks were purchased most by all households. Fruit-based beverages were mainly 100% juice for WIC-only households and sugary fruit drinks for SNAP households. SNAP benefits paid for 72% of the sugar-sweetened beverage purchases made by SNAP households. Nationwide, SNAP was estimated to pay at least $1.7 to $2.1 billion annually for sugar-sweetened beverages purchased in grocery stores. CONCLUSIONS: Considerable amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages are purchased by households participating in WIC and SNAP. The SNAP program pays for most of the sugar-sweetened beverage purchases among SNAP households. The upcoming SNAP reauthorization could be a good time to reconsider the program priorities to align public funds with public health. SN - 1873-2607 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/22992359/Grocery_store_beverage_choices_by_participants_in_federal_food_assistance_and_nutrition_programs_ L2 - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0749-3797(12)00445-X DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -