Food insecurity, health, and health care in the US

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food security as access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. There are 4 levels of food security: high, marginal, low, and very low. Low and very low food security together define food insecurity, meaning that a household’s “ability to acquire adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources.” In 2023, 13.5% of US households experienced food insecurity. Among these, 8.4% had low food security, meaning they may have had difficulty accessing nutritious food, and another 5.1% had very low food security, meaning they sometimes also had to reduce their intake because of lack of resources for food.

This JAMA Insights investigates the adverse effects of food insecurity on health and how federal nutrition programs can help mitigate these effects, improving health outcomes and reducing health care utilization.