Relationship of participation in food assistance programs to the nutritional quality of diets.

This study describes the participation of 76 low-income families in six food assistance programs, and analyzes their diets using 24-hour recalls collected weekly during one month. Larger families participated in more food assistance programs than smaller families but did not have diets with higher nutrient content. Although 71 per cent of the families participated in more than the Food Stamp Program (FSP), many did not consume nutrients supposedly available with the FSP alone.