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USPSTF: Evidence Lacking to Recommend Food Insecurity Screening

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on March 11, 2025.

TUESDAY, March 11, 2025 -- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concludes that evidence is currently insufficient for food insecurity screening in primary care, and the balance of benefits and harms of screening for food insecurity cannot be determined. These findings form the basis of a final recommendation statement published online March 11 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Elizabeth A. O'Connor, Ph.D., from Kaiser Permanente in Portland, Oregon, and colleagues conducted a systematic review of the evidence on benefits and harms of screening and interventions for food insecurity in health care settings. The researchers found one randomized clinical study examining the impact of screening for food insecurity showed no difference in food insecurity after six months. Twenty-nine studies examined interventions to address food insecurity; 27 were rated as poor quality. Of the two fair-quality studies, one revealed that home delivery of medically tailored meals was associated with lower food insecurity, and the other showed a smaller increase in body mass index among children whose families participated in a mobile food bank after six months.

Based on these findings, the USPSTF concludes that the evidence is insufficient and the balance of benefits and harms of screening for food insecurity on health outcomes in the primary care setting cannot be determined (I statement).

"The most effective health-promoting solution would be to effectively end food insecurity through social policies and an augmented social safety net," Arvin Garg, M.D. M.P.H., from the UMass Memorial Children's Medical Center in Worcester, and colleagues write in an accompanying editorial.

Evidence Report

Final Recommendation Statement

Editorial

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted March 2025

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