received their benefits at the beginning of each month, Groups 4-6 in the middle and Groups 7-9 at the end. We used the county categories to compare health, healthcare costs, and individual concerns about food insecurities. In order to eliminate any bias on date of receiving food stamps we will gather data equally from each aforementioned group. Likewise, we will further divide participating subjects into households that have a food budget outside of food stamps, and households that have no budget outside of food stamps. While food stamp benefits decrease with income increases, “outside budgets” can allow for less food insecurities and greater freedom in grocery choices. The FSP eligibility income-to-needs ratio was calculated by dividing the FS eligibility income of a family by the poverty threshold appropriate for the family’s size. This allowed us to calculate if the family had a food budget outside of their Bridge Card (the food stamp dispersement mechanism in Michigan).
While many food stamp recipients live in regions defined as “food
deserts,” it is important that access remains stable across our study’s timeline. In order to monitor this stability we measured a household’s access to healthy foods each year to ensure that access to healthy foods was not drastically changing and altering food choices. This will be determined using the US Census Bureau’s Zip Code Business Patterns data. Healthy food outlets include grocery stores with more than four employees and produce/farmers’ markets, as defined by their North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes.
The data we will collect is intended to create a fair representation of
the costs associated with the development of obesity as a result of food insecurity along with the costs associated with obesity-related diseases. Towards this goal, with the study population’s permission, we intend to collect all hospital, physician, and other healthcare related bills and receipts from these families. Likewise we will survey these heads of household in order to assess the availability and consumption of nutrition-rich foods. Furthermore we Excellence in Upper-Level Writing 2012 115