The majority of Americans do not meet the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and this puts them at elevated risk for numerous diet-related chronic diseases. Public policy has an important role to play in making sure everyone in the U.S. has access to nutritious, safe, affordable food to lower the risk of developing chronic diseases.
Diet and Chronic Diseases. Diet-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease, are associated with the majority of illness, death, and healthcare spending in the United States. A healthy dietary pattern is critical to maintaining wellness and reducing the risk of developing these chronic conditions.
Try these tips to help tackle food and nutrition insecurity: Support Your Community. Volunteer for and support your local food drives and food banks. Reward Innovation. Buy healthier foods for yourself and your family, whether from grocery stores, farmers markets, restaurants, coffee shops, or cafeterias—the more the demand for these foods grows, the more available they will be for everyone. Sign Up for Available Programs. If you or a friend are worried about food and nutrition security, look into eligibility for SNAP, WIC, and meals for the elderly. Support Policy Change. Keep an eye out for new policies that will help address nutrition insecurity and encourage your local, state, and national lawmakers to support them.
A Shift in Policy. Over the last 50 years, federal programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps), the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), along with community efforts like soup kitchens and food pantries, have been effective at reducing caloric hunger and vitamin deficiencies in the U.S.
“For decades, U.S. policies to address hunger and food insecurity have focused mostly on providing sufficient calories or quantities of food,” says Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, dean of the Friedman School and editor-in-chief of Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter. “It is time now to add to these programs and shift our focus to nutrition security, which can be defined as consistent access to sufficient, safe, nutritious, and affordable foods and beverages that promote well-being and prevent (and if needed, treat) disease.”
In acknowledgment of this important shift, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released a report called Actions on Nutrition Security. “The goal of this report is to highlight how the USDA is incorporating the focus on nutrition security in a deliberate way,” says Kumar Chandran, a Tufts Friedman School alum and Senior Advisor in the Office of the Secretary at the USDA. “Nutrition plays an essential role in diet-related diseases and the associated burdens on personal and societal health. A lot of people are aware of programs like SNAP and the critically important anti-hunger work we do, and we want to raise awareness of the need to focus on equity and inclusion around nutrition and health.”
The USDA’s plans include modernizing WIC food packages to better align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans; developing practical nutrition standards to build on the success of school meal programs; making sure SNAP participants can afford a healthy diet; and continuing to update nutrition education programs to make sure they are using the latest techniques to help diverse audiences improve their dietary intake.
“We are at an exciting moment in shifting our food system toward nutrition security for all,” says Mozaffarian. “The President will be holding a White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September, bringing together all the federal departments and agencies to identify innovative policies and actions to end hunger, improve nutrition, and reduce diet-related chronic diseases. Innovations in federal nutrition programs, healthcare, scientific research, business, and public education can together improve food and nutrition security, advance health, reduce health inequities, and save billions of dollars in preventable healthcare spending.”