Introduction

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the most significant nationwide program that contributed over the past 50 years to alleviating and reducing food insecurity and hunger in the United States (Nestle, 2019; National Research Council, 2013). The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed) is a federally funded grant program that supports evidence-based nutrition education and obesity prevention interventions and projects for persons eligible for SNAP benefits. SNAP-Ed promotes healthy eating and physical activity participation among SNAP-eligible individuals. Main interventions included in SNAP-Ed work plans are direct education, multilevel interventions, and community and public health approaches to improve the access to and appeal of healthy eating and physical activity. As part of their effort to improve their services to the SNAP-Ed population, Nevada Department of Health and Human Services Division of Welfare and Supportive Services (NDHHS-DWSS) requested a state-wide needs assessment of SNAP-eligible Nevadans be conducted. All interventions carried out under SNAP-Ed work plans, both locally and on a state level, have been informed by the results of previous needs assessments. This process is carried out periodically to ensure that all implementing agencies meet the unique needs of local communities, in addition to addressing statewide priorities informed by Nevada’s Nutrition Assistance Consortium and articulated by the NDHHS-DWSS. Nevada is one of the states that keeps changing in population characteristics and count over the years. This change comes from the unique transient status of the state that keeps attracting individuals from different backgrounds and economic statuses. To keep up with this change, it is necessary to keep track of the changing population's needs to meet them consistently. For this purpose, the NDHHS-DWSS commissioned University of Nevada, Reno Extension to carry out the first phase of a statewide needs assessment that included secondary data collection for existing SNAP-eligible population data. This report represents the results of the first phase of the needs assessment that started in December 2021 and ended in February 2022. 

Purpose and Scope of the Needs Assessment

This needs assessment describes the most pressing nutrition and physical activity needs of the SNAP-eligible population in Nevada and studies their characteristics and other environmental factors that shape their nutrition and physical activity behaviors. This examination seeks to identify the opportunities for policy, systems and environmental (PSE) intervention/approaches. It is assumed that the assessment findings will be used to strengthen Nevada’s SNAP-Ed state plan by modifying programs and approaches or developing new programs as/if indicated by key findings.

For the complete report use the link below to download the PDF version.