Nutrition assistance in the U.S. takes place in a unique context given the high prevalence of diet-related diseases such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and high adiposity, or obesity, among adults and children. More than 40 percent of American adults aged 20 and older were considered having the disease of obesity in 2017-2018, and 12 percent of children aged 2 to 5 were classified as already having obesity. Studies have found some minor correlations between food insecurity and obesity among women, but findings regarding men and children have been inconsistent. A framework for using this information to inform policies surrounding food benefits has been proposed. The framework suggests that strategies for coping with the social, psychological, geographic, economical stresses of poverty and structural factors are central to the link between poverty and its impacts on healthy lifestyles such as less access to healthy affordable foods in neighborhoods (the term food swamps have been used to describe locations with high amounts of liquor retail, convenience stores and few grocery stores with produce and lean meats), less access to safe places for physical activity, poor access to quality healthcare to screen and counsel for food security and health, and unhealthy weight status.