Adult obesity worldwide has more than doubled and obesity in kids has quadrupled since 1990.
The surge in obesity came as candy, gum and other sugary treats reached record sales in 2024 — surpassing $54 billion, according to the National Confectioners Association. That number could top $70 billion by 2029.
Kansas Republicans want people to eat healthier, so they are pushing to ban candy and soda purchases with food stamps.
Because the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is run by the federal government, state lawmakers couldn’t unilaterally ban using food stamps for candy or soda. So lawmakers inserted language in the state budget to seek a waiver from the federal government allowing the ban.
Opponents say the maneuver may not help people eat better.
“I personally do not believe that there is any evidence that it will result in healthier eating,” said Elizabeth Keever, chief resource officer at Harvesters.
Defining what counts as unhealthy food and drinks is tricky, critics say, and the current ban has glaring loopholes.
Republicans used the current sales tax definitions for candy and soda. That means anything with flour in it doesn’t count as candy.
Under that definition, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are considered candy while Twix and Twizzlers are not.
Meanwhile, Clif Bars, trail mix, Gatorade and higher-sugar juices count as candy or soda and are banned.
Sen. Renee Erickson, a Wichita Republican, said she knows the definition is not perfect and lawmakers are expected to return next year to adjust it. But she said something needed to be passed to keep Kansans healthy.
Erickson said SNAP is about providing nutritious food. Candy and soda aren’t needed for a healthy diet.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Erickson said. “(It) is the right thing to do … and I think that Kansans will be the beneficiary of it.”
Banning just soda and sugary drinks from food stamps would prevent 281,000 adults and 141,000 children nationwide from becoming obese, according to a 2014 University of Stanford study. That would lead to a 2.3% reduction in type 2 diabetes cases in adults.
Soda is the most purchased item with SNAP benefits, conservative think tank Opportunity Solutions Project claims. The group also asserts that candy is the third most purchased item.
Karen Siebert, advocacy and public policy adviser for Harvesters, said that doesn’t provide an accurate picture of how people on food assistance eat, though.
SNAP benefits pay for the first items scanned at the grocery store and pay for as much of someone’s grocery bill as they can until benefits run out.
Let’s say someone has $25 in SNAP benefits and buys $12.50 worth of candy and soda. If they scan the candy and soda first, it would look like 50% of their SNAP benefits were spent on junk food. But if they ring up $25 worth of meat, rice and vegetables first, it would look like none of their SNAP benefits go to junk food.
Rather than simply banning products, Siebert said, the legislature should be looking to incentivize healthy eating.
A 2024 report from Feeding America found that 71% of the almost 1,500 survey respondents wanted to eat healthier, but they couldn’t afford it.
The Stanford study also found that a 30 cent reward for every dollar spent on fruits and vegetables doubled the number of adults eating the federally recommended amount of fruits and vegetables.
Priscilla Brenes, an extension assistant professor, works with Kansas State University to promote healthy eating. She said finding time to cook healthy meals, knowing how to properly cook healthy food and food deserts are major barriers to eating healthy.
She said educational campaigns and incentivizing healthy eating are the best ways to encourage better diets. That means teaching people when fruits and vegetables are in season so they can pounce on deals, teaching children in school how to eat healthy or running social media campaigns.
“It’s a combination of (educational campaigns),” Brenes said. “Humans don’t learn the same way all the time.”
Brenes doesn’t have opinions on the impending state policy, but one thing that frustrated opponents of the candy and soda ban is what they see as a lack of data or expert opinions behind the change.
Siebert testified against multiple versions of the proposal, and she told lawmakers it had flaws. But conservatives in the statehouse pulled out the stops to pass it.
How was candy and soda banned from food stamps?
Kansas lawmakers originally tried to ban candy and soda from SNAP with Senate Bill 79.
The bill was vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly and was well short of the votes needed to override the veto in the House.
Lawmakers then added an item to the budget requiring the waiver request be sent to the federal government. Kelly can veto individual line items in a budget, but Republicans tied a candy and soda ban to summer food program funding.
If Kelly vetoed the item about the waiver, she’d also veto funding to feed children during the summer when they can’t rely on school meals. That’s why the item passed.
The federal government has historically denied these waivers, but the Trump administration has already approved a similar waiver in Nebraska.
“It’s unfortunate,” Siebert said. “It was holding hostage funding to feed children in the summer.”
This story was originally published by The Beacon, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
