New food stamp policy partly responsible for the decline in childhood obesity?

[eridani]

http://www.nationofchange.org/how-food-stamps-can-help-fight-childhood-obesity-1376147146

The idea was that reducing the high price of fresh produce might make it easier for food stamp recipients to purchase food with higher nutritional value. As a bonus, it was thought the subsidy might also encourage sellers to offer more fruits and vegetables. Once the pilot wrapped, SNAP would analyze the difference between HIP households and non-HIP households, to find out the pilot encouraged healthier eating habits.

So, did it work? Did offering food stamp recipients an incentive lead to the kind of healthier eating habits that can lower obesity rates? Yes, it did.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the results of the Healthy Incentives Pilot, and outcome shows that even small investments can lead to a huge impact. The USDA’s interim report on HIP showed that an ongoing investment of less than 15 cents per person per day may result in a 25 percent increase in fruit and vegetable consumption among adults. And if more adults in low-income households are eating more fruits and vegetables, you can bet that children in those households are eating their veggies too.