What Is Food Insecurity and How Can Nurses Help Address It?

Hunger affects millions of people in the U.S. The American Public Health Association reports that approximately 13.5% of U.S. households are food insecure, and over 40 million Americans are at risk as of 2025. What is food insecurity, exactly? As a registered nurse (RN), you could be on the front lines of tackling this issue.

At Pacific Lutheran University (PLU), we encourage our nursing students to become community-minded nurses who strive to improve the world around them. PLU’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program provides a streamlined pathway for transfer students and career switchers who are interested in a nursing career. PLU also offers a traditional BSN program and graduate-level options on our main campus.

Food insecurity is one issue impacting patients that you might encounter as a nurse. Learn what the causes and health consequences are and reflect on the question, “How can nurses help with food insecurity?”

What Is Food Insecurity?

The World Food Programme defines food security as sufficient access to “safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development, and an active and healthy life.” Food insecurity is the reverse of this.

Food insecurity may be acute, lasting only a short time, or chronic, lasting a long time. Keep in mind, however, that all food insecurity can be deadly, regardless of duration. Both types of food insecurity can lead to malnutrition or worse.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) measures food security on the following scale:

• High food security: Few to no problems accessing nutritious food
• Marginal food security: Occasional problems accessing nutritious food and some anxiety about it, without a substantial reduction in quality or quantity
• Low food security: Poor quality, nutrition, and desirability of food, but able to maintain sufficient quantity
• Very low food security: Reduction of food intake due to lack of resources

Causes and Consequences of Food Insecurity

Nurses need to be aware of both the causes and the consequences of food insecurity. What are the top causes of food insecurity? Some of the most influential factors in determining whether individuals go hungry include:

• Climate change, which creates extreme weather and crop failure
• Food deserts, which refer to the lack of access to healthy food due to geographical factors
• High cost of living and inflation
• Limited access to transportation
• Poverty and income instability

Food insecurity has significant consequences at every stage of life, but is particularly harmful to developing children. Good nutrition is essential for healthy brain development and growth, especially from birth through age three.

Babies and young children who do not receive adequate nutrition are at risk of developmental issues, including cognitive, emotional, and behavioral issues, according to The American Nurses Association. Children may experience developmental delays, poor immune function, and stunted growth. They are also at risk of:

• Depression, anxiety, aggression, and irritability
• Eating disorders
• Food hoarding or obsessive behaviors
• Problems concentrating and learning impairment

At any age, food insecurity can lead to health problems that include:

• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Hypertension
• Malnutrition
• Mental health problems, including stress, anxiety, and depression
• Obesity

Hunger is a traumatizing experience, and the economic insecurity that drives it may also lead to unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, such as smoking and lack of physical activity.

The Nurse’s Role in Addressing Food Insecurity

Millions of people in the U.S. have trouble accessing sufficient nutritious foods. As a professional nurse, some of your patients will inevitably be among them. How can nurses help with food insecurity? As a nurse, your responsibility is to safeguard your patients’ health and safety and help them connect with the resources they need. It can be challenging to do so, however, when patients are reluctant to talk about their situation.

Patients may be reluctant to discuss being acutely or chronically hungry due to embarrassment about their situation, as well as social stigma. Parents may fear that their children will be taken away from them by social services. Reassure patients that you are here to help, and then do what you can to connect your patients to the resources they need.

How Can Nurses Help With Food Insecurity?

There are plenty of steps nurses can take to address hunger in their communities, including:

Screen for Hunger

Much like evaluating for the possibility of abuse, screening for hunger often relies on observation. Nurses can assess whether their patients are:

• Displaying signs of vitamin deficiencies and malnutrition
• Experiencing unexplained weight loss
• Frequently missing health appointments
• Not taking their medications

Missing health appointments and not taking medications can be indicators that patients are struggling financially, and possibly food insecure.

You can also use The Hunger Vital Sign, a simple, peer-reviewed screening tool approved for use for both pediatric and adult patients. Ask your patients if the following statements are often true, sometimes true, or never true over the past 12 months:

• The food we bought did not last, and we could not afford more food.
• We worried that our food would run out before we could afford more.

Deliver Comprehensive Patient Education

If your observations and/or the hunger screening indicate that your patients have poor food security, your first step may be to modify the typical patient education. In addition to covering health conditions, symptoms, and treatments, expand your patient education to include community resources. Sometimes, hungry families are unaware of the resources available to them.

It is a good idea to keep a printout of community resources available for your patients. You can list local food pantries, soup kitchens, and similar resources on the printout, including information about applying for benefits.

Serve as an Advocate

Nurses are patient advocates. Usually, this involves speaking up for your patient’s health-related needs, preferences, and cultural wishes. Sometimes, patient advocacy can go beyond the walls of your health care facility. You can serve as a powerful voice advocating for policy change at the local, state, and federal levels. As a health care professional, you can champion policies and programs that will help address food insecurity.

Partner With Dieticians

It is often challenging for food-insecure families to figure out how to cook healthy food on a very low budget. Although dieticians cannot help patients expand their food budget, they can help by designing more affordable meal plans and connecting them to inexpensive, healthy recipes.

Become Active in Your Community

Another way to directly help individuals and families increase their food security is to become involved in the community. Many organizations that operate food pantries, offer free meals, or rescue food and deliver it to people in need welcome volunteers.

Enjoy Trusted Nursing Education at Pacific Lutheran University

Pacific Lutheran University invites you to experience the benefits of service-based nursing education near Seattle. In as few as 16 months, you could earn your nursing degree and start helping those in need. You may be eligible for our ABSN program if you have completed a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 60 non-nursing college credits.

Contact an admissions representative at PLU to get started.