People with food insecurity deserve better nutrition education

Since spring 2022, a flood of migrants fleeing political instability in Venezuela — about 136,000 — have settled in Queens, New York, and are in desperate need of food and other resources. The surging migrant population has led to depleted food pantries in the borough; as of June 2023, more than 20.5% of Queens residents are experiencing food insecurity. They may be physically safe, but are swept into the new challenge of hunger.

Food insecurity, defined as a lack of access to a sufficient quantity of nutritious food, is a growing public health problem in the United States. In 2019, according to the Department of Agriculture, 35.2 million in the U.S. lived in food-insecure homes, with higher rates in single parent households and households of color. In 2022, that number rose to 44.2 million. Many of these households are also lacking something that could help them combat food insecurity: nutrition education.

The lack of reliable access to nutritious food is associated with increased risk of chronic and metabolic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis. In the United States, poor diet is the leading risk factor for death from diseases, even greater than tobacco.

Food assistance in the United States is provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which gives families monetary benefits to purchase food at grocery stores in their local communities. In many cases, the benefits are insufficient to purchase enough fresh produce like fruits and vegetables for the whole household, which results in families spending the majority of their budget on low-cost processed foods, such as sweetened beverages and boxed foods.

However, adopting a nutritious diet long-term requires more than just having the opportunity to purchase healthy food — it needs knowledge on food preparation, storage, and more. Food literacy skills and nutrition knowledge make a lifelong impact in improving health and quality of life for food-insecure communities. A 2021 study conducted at University of California, Berkeley found that nutrition education involving hands-on cooking lowered food insecurity and stress among students who took the class.

Some help is available in the form of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed), which delivers evidence-based nutrition education to recipients of SNAP with community partners. In 2022, the program helped only 846,569 beneficiaries in the Mountain Plains, Southwest, and Southeast regions. In 2022, it awarded over $400 million to states, which collectively partner with 28,000 organizations to run health and behavioral-focused nutrition education program.

For example, one SNAP-Ed intervention implemented in Alabama involved teaching students in school districts with high rates of food insecurity to try colorful fruits and vegetables. This 15-week program helped them learn about the nutritious properties of fresh produce, including how to cook it. Insights gathered from the end of the intervention showed that students drank fewer sugary beverages, ate more fruits and vegetables, and participated in cooking healthy meals with their family at home compared with the beginning of the program.

Nutrition education initiatives can inspire healthy habits in the long run. Currently, only 1 in 10 Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables — at least 1.5 cups of fruit and 2 cups of vegetables daily. Research has found that participants in SNAP-Ed programs had greater fruit and vegetable consumption. On average, participants consumed 0.34 cups more of fruit per day and 0.22 cups more of vegetables per day after the intervention. While these sorts of short-term approaches are helpful, long-term federal action is critical.

For instance, the reach of SNAP-Ed is limited to those who live near participating sites. A strategy for alleviating food insecurity would be to expand this program in cities with high populations of low-income and BIPOC communities who often live in food deserts. Another option would be to have community partners like schools, hospitals, and recreation centers collaborate with nutrition education programs to develop a safe, familiar space for individuals to learn about food preparation and nutritious eating.

Moreover, interventions need to be made to meet communities where they are, incorporating thoughtful communication and cultural knowledge to steadily reinforce systemic equity in our food system. Existing nutrition programs need to be transformed for a broad focus on intersectionality and food justice. The ultimate goal should be to ensure that individuals all across the nation can access healthy, nutritious meals through a just food system.

Anika Nayak was a news intern at STAT. She now works in research and community health in New York City. Nisha Patel, M.D., M.S., is a practicing lipidologist and obesity and culinary medicine physician in San Francisco. Disha K. Narang, M.D., is a practicing endocrinologist and obesity and culinary medicine physician in Chicago. Drs. Patel and Narang are the founders of Meet Ayla, a supportive community that empowers women to prevent and treat obesity and its associated complications.