WHAT IS FOOD IS MEDICINE?
Food Is Medicine
Food is Medicine is a philosophy where food and nutrition aid individuals through interventions that support health and wellness. Focus areas include:
Food as preventative medicine to encourage health and well-being
Food as medicine in disease management and treatment
Food as medicine to improve nutrition security
Food as medicine to promote food safety
Food is medicine is a reaffirmation that food and nutrition play a role in sustaining health, preventing disease, and as a therapy for those with conditions or in situations responsive to changes in their diet.
Food is Medicine programs integrate food-based nutritional interventions into healthcare to treat or prevent disease and advance health equity. These are health sector strategies that include produce prescriptions to support disease management and optimal well-being. Food is Medicine programs leverage RDN expertise and offer culturally appropriate, nutrition and culinary education to patients.
Tufts University - About Food Is Medicine @ Tufts
NUTRITION SECURITY & HEALTH
By the Numbers
Approximately 33.8 million people live in food-insecure households.
Household food insecurity affected 12.5% of households with children in 2021.
About half of all American adults — or 117 million individuals — have 1 or more preventable chronic disease, many of which are related to poor-quality eating patterns and physical inactivity. These include cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.
Lower food security is associated with higher probability of chronic disease diagnosis — including hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Nearly $173 billion a year is spent on health care for obesity alone.
Understanding the Connection Between Food and Health
Access to nutritious food is critical to health and resilience. Food is Medicine is a concept that reaffirms this connection, recognizing that access to high-quality nourishment is essential for well-being. By supporting the production of, and facilitating access to, nutritious food across a health continuum and range of settings, approaches to Food is Medicine support immediate and long-term resources for people, communities, and systems.
REFERENCES
Downer S, Berkowitz SA, Harlan TS, Lee Olstad D, Mozaffarian D. Food is medicine: Actions to integrate food and nutrition into healthcare. BMJ. 2020; 369: m2482.
Economic Research Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture)
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) - Poor Nutrition
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation - Food as Medicine Defined
Tufts University - About Food Is Medicine @ Tufts
U.S. Department of Agriculture - The Healthy Eating Index: How Is America Doing?
U.S Department of Health and Human Services & Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion - Food is Medicine: A Project to Unify and Advance Collective Action
Yoder AD, Proaño GV, Handu D. Retail Nutrition Programs and Outcomes: An Evidence Analysis Center Scoping Review. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2020; In Press.