Nutritionist: SNAP cutoff could worsen chronic disease, harm kids’ health

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Nutritionist: SNAP cutoff could worsen chronic disease, harm kids' health

Dietitian says millions could lose access to healthy foods essential for preventing diabetes, cancer and developmental delays in kids

CHICAGO --- Millions of Americans could lose access on Saturday to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as the federal government remains shut down.

Northwestern Medicine clinical dietitian Bethany Doerfler is available for interviews on the likely scenario to discuss the short- and long-term consequences of food insecurity, including impacts on child development, chronic disease management and cancer prevention, as well as the role of food assistance programs in supporting healthy diets.

Journalists interested in interviewing Doerfler can email Ben Schamisso at [email protected]. She is only available for print or remote broadcast interviews.

Below is a Q&A with Doerfler, who's the chief clinical research dietitian of the digestive health institute at Northwestern University Feinberg Northwestern Medicine.

Q: How could a lapse in SNAP benefits influence how recipients eat and their overall health?

Access to healthy food is a major determinant of what people eat. Unhealthy food is cheaper and easier to get, and that's a problem for people managing chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and metabolic conditions. Food assistance programs shape what people eat at school, at home and beyond.

What we see is that people quiet their hunger with whatever food they can find, and that usually isn't healthy foods. It completely undermines what we as healthcare providers are trying to do when we teach self-care or disease prevention. You can't talk about self-care when people don't have healthy choices.

Q: What could the impact be on children, who make up a significant portion of SNAP recipients?

When children don't have enough to eat, it hurts their school performance, and that impacts the economy. But it's also a public health issue. For example, children in urban areas who lack iron and calcium are more vulnerable to lead poisoning because those nutrients compete with lead for absorption. Food insecurity doesn't just mean hunger, it means exposure to environmental toxins, poorer learning and psychological stress for children.

Q: Are some families more vulnerable than others?

A: All families who receive food assistance need it. As a clinician, I can assure you it's not easy to apply for or qualify for SNAP benefits - the people who get them truly need them. Every family that depends on that support will feel this impact. But it's particularly hard for families where one or more people have a physical or cognitive disability. I have many patients with significant cognitive or developmental delays, which means a caregiver has to stay home and care for them. Those are the families that really struggle to find outside sources of financial support to make up the gap when these programs disappear.

Q: How does limited access to healthy foods affect chronic disease management?

A: Let's take diabetes, for example. When a teen or an adult has type 2 diabetes, the preferred treatment is lifestyle intervention: eating whole foods that are high in fiber, low in saturated fat and low in refined carbohydrates. That means lean proteins like fish, poultry and beans, and plenty of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. But those are exactly the foods that become too expensive when people have less money to spend on food. So, they gravitate toward bulk, starchy meals like pasta or rice dishes. Those foods aren't bad in themselves, but they shift the balance away from what we recommend for managing diabetes. The same thing happens with certain cancers where lifestyle factors play a role. When people can't afford fresh produce, the first thing to go are fruits and vegetables, which are exactly the foods that can help prevent cancer or reduce the risk of it coming back.

Q: Are there misconceptions about how Americans use food assistance programs?

A: I think there's a media perception that people on food assistance can just buy junk food or soda. In reality, there are guardrails on what people can purchase, and these programs often combine nutrition education with food access and assistance. This means people are getting real guidance on how to make their benefits stretch and support a healthy diet. Most people who are receiving food assistance support are using it to buy healthy food.