Online Program

Oral

Food insecurity is a persistent public health issue – characterized as the lack of assured access to sufficient food for a healthy and active life. Higher rates of food insecurity are observed in households with limited incomes, with children, and in households of people of color and female-headed households. A number of community factors can be leveraged to strengthen the local food security infrastructure – such as ensuring economic well-being for all resident, improving the accessibility and availability of healthy food in the local food system, creating a strong emergency food system, and expanding access to federal nutrition assistance programs. This session will explore the community contexts surrounding food insecurity, such as the spatial and temporal patterns in food acquisition, as well as the community readiness for food pantry nutrition initiatives. In addition, the session will describe in greater detail the burden of chronic disease among the food insecure, shed light to the growing issue of food insecurity among college students, and highlight the cumulative risk of negative health stressors faced by food insecure families.

Session Objectives: Describe the negative health risk factors associated with food insecurity. Explain the implications of community readiness in food pantry nutrition interventions. Discuss implications of spatial and temporal constraints on healthy food access in community settings.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)