AAP Voices Blog

The Importance of Food Security Interventions 

Imagine being a new mother. Your natural milk production hasn’t picked up, even as your daughter reaches 4 months. You worry that she isn’t getting enough. You’re open to formula feeding but can’t afford food for yourself, much less expensive formula.

This is a real scenario that impacts countless mothers, including one of my patients. We were able to offer support by getting her screened for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children, also known as WIC. Under WIC, infants receive more than just formula, and mothers can get access to resources beyond food, including nutritional advice and referrals to primary care physicians.

On top of food for herself through WIC and local food pantries, the mother was given access to breastfeeding support and able to continue breastfeeding. With supplemental formula, her child is now gaining necessary weight and the mother is no longer worrying about feeding herself.

There is growing recognition of the negative influence that unmet health-related social needs, such as food insecurity, have on health outcomes. Food insecurity is the insufficient access to nutritious, affordable food to live an active, healthy life. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics 2015 policy statement “Promoting Food Security for All Children, which was reaffirmed in 2021, recommends pediatricians screen patients for food insecurity, asking all caregivers two questions:

• Within the past 12 months, did you worry whether food would run out before you got money to buy more? (Yes or No)
• Within the past 12 months, did the food you buy not last or did you not have money to get more? (Yes or No)

Pediatricians are increasingly screening for health-related social needs in primary care and other clinical settings. In addition, several national initiatives, including from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, have commenced around health-related social needs, in an effort to shape the social care delivery landscape. 
 
If your clinic is not yet screening and addressing food insecurity, the AAP Food Research & Action Center published an updated toolkit for pediatricians in 2020, which provides strategies for screening, intervening, and advocating. The largest players in the emergency food network are federal nutrition programs, including WIC and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). These programs provide critical support for physical and psychosocial health as well as academic achievement for millions of children. 

These programs provide critical support for physical and psychosocial health as well as academic achievement for millions of children.

The AAP recommends referring families to these programs first as they rely on evidence-based strategies to address food insecurity. Despite the need for these programs, families can run into barriers when applying. These include lengthy application processes to assess eligibility as well as the perceived stigma of receiving help. For those families who end up denied, this is where the local emergency food network can step in.

The emergency food network consists of food banks, food pantries, and other emergency resources such as soup kitchens. There is often confusion between food banks and food pantries. A food bank is a non-profit, community-based organization that receives, stores, and circulates food from various sources. This food can come from a variety of sources such as farmers, government agencies, grocery stores, and restaurants. Food banks do not dispense food directly to individual clients. Instead, food banks often store food in warehouses and hire delivery drivers to distribute food to local food pantries in their network. Food banks also offer partnerships with other local community-based anti-hunger organizations to source food onsite at the food bank. In addition, food banks conduct community outreach and provide other services like SNAP application assistance, classes on how to prepare and cook healthy meals, and health screenings, among others.
 
Food pantries receive food from food banks to distribute directly to clients. They can be located in community centers, places of worship, schools, healthcare clinics, and some are even mobile. Some food pantries may dispense non-food items, such as hygiene products or clothes, but these items aren’t always guaranteed. Food pantries may have limited hours and days, and some limit how many times clients can visit to make sure other families in need can receive food. To ensure clients live in the area these food banks serve, they may require identification, zip code, or other information. Clients may also be asked about the number of people living in the home, so enough food can be distributed.

Both food banks and food pantries serve as critical support in the emergency food network. Pediatricians can connect families passively with informational handouts or more actively by using online resource platforms or facilitating warm hand-offs to social workers or community health workers.  

Pediatricians are uniquely situated to address the unmet health-related social needs of children and families, and connections with the emergency food network can help fill the need. 

Please consider engaging with your local emergency food network.

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the American Academy of Pediatrics.