Food Insecurity Is Associated With Higher Health Care Use And Costs Among Canadian Adults

Linking survey data on food insecurity with hospital records, this new study, published in Health Affairs, demonstrates that more severely food insecure adults have greater odds of acute care admission, having same-day surgery, and being a high-cost healthcare user.

More severely food insecure adults also stayed in acute care for longer and were more likely to be readmitted.

This study uses clinical health data to reinforce previous findings using self-reported health measures that show food insecurity is associated with poor health. It also adds to previous literature from Ontario on the burden of household food insecurity on the healthcare utilization and expenditure.

Access the article at:
Men, F., Gundersen, C., Urquia, M. L., & Tarasuk, V. (2020). Food insecurity is associated with higher health care use and costs among Canadian adults. Health Affairs, 39(8), 1377–1385.