FRAC and AAP gratefully acknowledge the Anthem Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Anthem, Inc., for support of their work to help medical providers screen and intervene to address food insecurity.
Explore FRAC and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ latest toolkit to learn more about how pediatricians can play a critical role in addressing food insecurity. Food insecurity is a critical child health issue that impacts millions of children and families in all communities across the U.S. Unfortunately, 1 in 7 U.S. children lives in a household struggling against food insecurity. These levels have only deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Black and Latinx households with children continue to face disproportionately high rates of food insecurity before and during the pandemic. Explore the toolkit to learn more about how pediatricians can play a critical role in addressing food insecurity.
Food insecurity — the limited or uncertain access to enough food — is a critical child health issue that impacts millions of infants, children, youth, and families in all communities across the U.S. Children of all ages who live in households with food insecurity, even at the least severe levels of food insecurity, are likely to be sick more often, recover from illness more slowly, and be hospitalized more frequently.
In order to assist pediatricians in meeting these recommendations, the AAP partnered with the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) to update this toolkit (first published in 2017) and its accompanying materials and resources. The revamped toolkit will help pediatricians, their practice teams, and community partners:
- LEARN about food insecurity, including rates among families with children, its negative impacts on child health, development, and well-being, and how it may present in a family;
- SCREEN for food insecurity by using Hunger Vital Sign™ (this is a validated two-question screening tool developed by Children’s HealthWatch);
- CONNECT families to federal nutrition programs and other state and local community resources; and
- SUPPORT national and local policies that address food insecurity and its root causes, including poverty, inadequate wages, housing insecurity, food deserts, and structural racism.
Children who are experiencing food insecurity may present signs of nutritional deficiencies that can manifest in the following ways:
- developmental delays;
- behavioral problems;
- depression, anxiety, or stress (parent, child or adolescent);
- iron deficiency anemia or other nutrient deficiencies;
- underweight or overweight;
- slow growth;
- inappropriate feeding practices; and
- dental caries.
You can download this toolkit for free here.
