American journal of preventive medicine
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Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) may help ease economic and time constraints of cooking, helping low-income households prepare healthier meals. Therefore, frequent cooking may be more strongly associated with improved dietary outcomes among SNAP recipients than among income-eligible non-recipients. Alternately, increased frequency of home-cooked meals among SNAP participants may be beneficial simply by replacing fast food intake. This study quantified the association between home cooking and fast food with diet intake and weight status among SNAP recipients. ⋯ Strategies to improve dietary intake among SNAP recipients should consider both increasing home cooking and reducing fast food intake.
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Adolescent use of hookah continues to increase in the U.S., even in states that have reported decreases in traditional cigarette use among youth. Hookah use typically involves smoking a moistened, loose, sweetened tobacco product with charcoal as the heat source. ⋯ The increase in hookah use among adolescents needs continuous monitoring given the recent increase after relatively stable patterns. Efforts are needed to reduce the appeal and use of hookah by young people.
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This paper provides a historical background for the current nutrition issues faced by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Food Stamp Program evolved into SNAP during a period when U. S. diets, particularly those of the poor, became less healthful. ⋯ The SNAP design has not responded to these shifts in diet and the powerful interests controlling our food system. This twist in the U. S. diet and food system presents a major dilemma to those attempting to form a healthy food program based on the results of an effective pilot project.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
A Comparison of Black and White Racial Differences in Health Lifestyles and Cardiovascular Disease.
This study examines the health lifestyles of a cohort of blacks and whites in relation to cardiovascular disease (CVD). The link between health lifestyles and CVD is well established, but most of the focus has been on SES and more research is needed on racial differences. ⋯ Health lifestyles differ by race and support the exploratory hypothesis that distinct classes of healthy-unhealthy lifestyles exist within each racial group.