Weight and food stamps

Pity the poverty-stricken: Not only do they have to struggle to find food, the food that is often affordable is quite fattening. And according to one study, even the help that food stamps provide is working against them.

"We can't prove that the Food Stamp Program causes weight gain, but this study suggests a strong linkage," Jay Zagorsky, a research scientist at Ohio State University's Center for Human Resource Research, Columbus, noted in a university-issued statement.

Zagorsky and Patricia Smith of the University of Michigan in Dearborn studied nearly 4,000 people in the food stamp program and almost 6,000 not in the program for weight changes.

"While this association does not prove that the Food Stamp Program causes weight gain, it does suggest that program changes to encourage the consumption of high-nutrient, low-calorie foods should be considered," Zagorsky and Smith note in the latest issue of Economics and Human Biology.

In 2008, roughly 28 million people, about 10 percent of U.S. citizens, received benefits from the food stamp program in a given month.

Food stamp participants, Zagorsky and Smith say, may choose cheap, calorie-dense, high-fat, processed foods over healthier, more expensive food because food stamps don't provide enough money to buy healthy foods.

The study says that in 2002 the average recipient received $81 in food stamps per month. "That figure was shocking to me," Zagorsky said. "I think it would be very difficult for a shopper to regularly buy healthy, nutritious food on that budget."

Not factored into the study is the amount of time the poor must sit waiting - for food stamps, for free health care, for transit. Sitting burns few calories, and boredom makes most people want to eat salty or sweet fatty things. Throw in the seductive TV ads for fast food, and you have a sure-fire formula for weight gain.

Stress = snacking = excess weight

An unexpected twist of the recession, as reported by Reuters news service last week:

The recession that is shrinking workers' paychecks may also be expanding their waistlines.

One in 10 U.S. workers said they are snacking more during the day due to concerns over the economic situation, and nearly half complained of gaining weight in their jobs, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.com, an online jobs site.

It said 43 percent of employees surveyed reported they have gained weight while in their present jobs. A quarter said they gained more than 10 pounds and a sixth gained more than 20 pounds.

Admitting to eating habits that can contribute to weight gain, 39 percent said they eat out for lunch twice or more a week, and 12 percent buy lunch from a vending machine at least once a week, the survey showed.

Two-thirds said they snack at least once a day, including 24 percent who snack twice a day, it said.

"Weight gain in the office is common and is a result of a variety of issues including today's economic stress and poor eating habits," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.com.

Only 9 percent of employees exercise at midday, the survey said, although a quarter of U.S. companies provide gym passes, workout facilities or similar benefits, it said.

Women are more likely than men to say they have gained weight, 48 to 39 percent, it said.

The online survey was conducted Feb. 20 through March 11 by Harris Interactive among 4,435 U.S. adults employed full-time. The margin of error was plus or minus 1.47 percentage points.

CareerBuilder.com is owned by Gannett Co, the Tribune Co, McClatchy Co and Microsoft Corp.

Full disclosure here: I worked for the McClatchy Co. for more than 20 years. But they acquired CareerBuilder when they swallowed up the Knight Ridder chain, and I had no contact with that part of the company.

And one thing I noticed in those 20+ years: When the editor and the corporate officers used the gym, and made a point of taking some time out of their day to march down to basement with their gym bags, many of the employees followed suit. Once that stopped happening, the gym gradually emptied, and when I left, it was used only by the most dedicated exercisers.