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Sandy Stenmark, MD, FAAP
Aurora, Colorado
Affiliations:
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Why is it important for pediatricians/pediatric practices to screen for food insecurity?
The healthcare sector can help lead change toward the recognition of food as a human right upheld by systems-level protections. Although the healthcare sector alone is not responsible for this needed paradigm change, it can help to inspire it.
Why is it important to connect food-insecure families to SNAP and the Child Nutrition Programs?
Pediatricians can improve health, development and the food and economic security of the families they serve by: promoting the benefits of the the Federal Nutrition Assistance Programs SNAP and WIC, asking families if they are currently enrolled in these nutrition programs and facilitating enrollment in the programs.
Medicaid beneficiaries are an ideal target population for enrollment in SNAP and WIC as they are likely to be food insecure and 100% are financially eligible for WIC and the majority are eligible for SNAP. Enrollment can be facilitated during clinic visits or at the time of enrollment or recertification in the Medicaid program.
Maximizing enrollment in all federal nutrition assistance programs is critical during this economic crisis with an estimated doubling or tripling of food insecurity in households with children. Families need sustainable, evidence based programs.
How can pediatricians advocate for policies and programs to address food insecurity?
In addition to facilitating enrollment pediatricians can improve food security by advocating for policies which increase access to nutritious food. Advocate for an increase in SNAP and WIC benefits. Presently the SNAP and WIC benefit levels are insufficient to lead to food security in most families, especially in households with adolescents. Advocate for removal of barriers to participation in SNAP and WIC. Pediatricians and the AAP can advocate for a more coordinated, streamlined and person centered safety net at both the state and federal level. Lastly pediatricians with their experience working with families can use their stories and influence to advocate for fair labor practices and family supports in their health system and state, which will allow more parents the ability to provide nutritious food for their family.
Kofi D. Essel, MD, MPH, FAAP
Washington, D.C.
Affiliations:
Attending Physician, Children’s Health Center at Anacostia – Goldberg Center for Community Pediatric Health
Director, Community/Urban Health Scholarly Concentration, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Children’s National Health System & GWUSMHS
Why is it important for pediatricians/pediatric practices to screen for food insecurity?
The 21st century clinician should be able to seamlessly integrate clinical care with population health. The reality is that food insecurity is a very prevalent concern for families all across the United States and not relegated to income, race, ethnicity, immigration or household status. Without food insecurity screening, pediatricians and their practice teams will fail to identify a very prominent contributor to the worsening health of our patients, families, and communities. In addition, we know that food insecurity is often invisible(not reliably identified by clinical signs or symptoms) and if identification is left to our own preconceived notions and biases we are setting ourselves up for a failed system of inadequate and inequitable care.
Why is it important to connect food-insecure families to SNAP and the Child Nutrition Programs?
SNAP and the Child Nutrition Programs are anchors for many families who may be toggling in and out of bouts of food insecurity throughout the year. These programs have strong financial structures that often help boost families out of poverty and provide enough consistency to be able to shift their focus to other pressing concerns to help stabilize their homes.
How can pediatricians advocate for policies and programs to address food insecurity?
Pediatricians play an important role in advocating for policies and programs to address food insecurity. The key is to start wherever you are and join the cause, recognizing that we are all working together in unison from different levels to create impact. Pediatricians are universally recognized as respectable, responsible, and present leaders in our communities. It is important that we do not waste the treasure trove of stories and lived experiences of our families, but instead, honor them by influencing change at an upstream level.
Valerie Smith
Taylor, TX
Affiliations:
Pediatrician, CCHH Director, St. Paul Children’s Medical Clinic
Why is it important for pediatricians/pediatric practices to screen for food insecurity?
Lacking consistent access to healthy food can impact every aspect of a child’s health – physical, developmental, and mental. As pediatricians, if we want children to be healthy, we must address food insecurity among our patients.
Why is it important to connect food-insecure families to SNAP and the Child Nutrition Programs?
Federal nutrition programs such as SNAP, WIC, and school meal programs empower millions of children to be well nourished – allowing them to grow and learn. Community resources such as food pantries and soup kitchens provide a vital stop-gap for families in crisis, but they can only meet a small percentage of the need in our country. Connecting families to federal nutrition programs provides them with stable, consistent access to healthy food.
How can pediatricians advocate for policies and programs to address food insecurity?
As pediatricians, we can use our voice to speak about the value of federal nutrition programs for the patients we serve. We can share with policy makers the message that nutrition programs are health programs and promote the future health, well-being, and success of today’s children. Access to healthy food for all children isn’t an issue for those on the right or left, it’s an issue that all Americans can support.
Colin J. Orr, MD
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Affiliations:
DCCOR-affiliated research fellow, UNC Chapel Hill
Clinical instructor in the Department of Pediatrics, UNC Chapel Hill
Why is it important for pediatricians/pediatric practices to screen for food insecurity?
Food insecurity has numerous detrimental impacts on the health and well-being of children and their families. Screening for food insecurity allows pediatricians to identify children and families in need and connect them with resources.
Why is it important to connect food-insecure families to SNAP and the Child Nutrition Programs?
Connecting food-insecure families to Federal Nutrition Assistance programs such as SNAP and Child Nutrition Programs is important because these programs are able to reduce a family’s food insecurity and promote a child’s growth and development.
How can pediatricians advocate for policies and programs to address food insecurity?
Vote! Pediatricians may also support local and national candidates who prioritize and support legislation that protect the health of the nation’s most vulnerable children and families.
Callie L. Brown, MD, MPH
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Affiliations:
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Wake Forest School of Medicine
Why is it important for pediatricians/pediatric practices to screen for food insecurity?
Food insecurity in children can lead to numerous problems with children’s mental and physical health, in addition to decreased academic performance. Pediatricians and pediatric providers play an important role in screening for food insecurity as they are a trusted resource for parents and have frequent contact with families throughout childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, COVID-19 has exacerbated food insecurity rates, particularly for low-income households with children, so screening and referring for food insecurity is more important than ever before.
Why is it important to connect food-insecure families to SNAP and the Child Nutrition Programs?
Connecting families with food insecurity to SNAP and Child Nutrition Programs is integral in providing children with consistent and reliable access to healthy, nutritious food. These programs have been shown to be some of the most effective interventions to reduce food insecurity.
How can pediatricians advocate for policies and programs to address food insecurity?
Pediatricians can meet with, call, write, email, or Tweet their members of congress – you have instant credibility on issues of child health! We need to emphasize how common food insecurity is among children and how federal nutrition programs can effectively reduce food insecurity and improve children’s health. Examples areas of advocacy include: 1) a 15 percent boost in the SNAP maximum benefit; 2) an increase in the SNAP monthly minimum benefit from $16 to $30; 3) a suspension of SNAP time limits and rules changes that would cut SNAP eligibility and benefits; and 4) extend and expand Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer.
Megan Sandel, MD, MPH
Boston, Massachusetts
Affiliations:
Associate Director of the GROW clinic at Boston Medical Center, a Principal Investigator with Children’s Health Watch and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health
Why is it important for pediatricians/pediatric practices to screen for food insecurity?
It’s important for pediatricians and practices to screen for food insecurity because we know how closely-linked this particular material hardship is to children’s health outcomes as well as other factors that impact health, like poverty and difficulty meeting basic needs.
Why is it important to connect food-insecure families to SNAP and the Child Nutrition Programs?
It’s well-established that SNAP is the single most effective anti-hunger program in the country – especially when it’s accessed alongside the Child Nutrition Programs. Simply put – these programs boost families and support child health.
How can pediatricians advocate for policies and programs to address food insecurity?
There are many ways for pediatricians to advocate for these policies, and successful strategies often rely on building relationships with your elected officials at the local, state, and national levels. Pediatricians are some of the most trusted members of our communities and policymakers understand this well, which is why pediatricians’ voices are needed to ensure policies and programs to address food insecurity are enacted.
Carrie Lipp, MD, FAAP
Phoenix, Arizona
Affiliations:
Elevance Health Inc.
Why is it important for pediatricians/pediatric practices to screen for food insecurity?
Pediatricians have the unique and treasured role of having a window into many aspects of a child’s life. This positions us perfectly to identify areas that negatively impact the child’s health and well-being. Inadequate access to nutritious foods affects the physical and emotional health of children and their families. Elevance Health Foundation recognizes the struggles with food insecurity and are working with FRAC to provide tools and resources to help pediatricians identify food insecurity and support families in need of assistance.
Why is it important to connect food-insecure families to SNAP and the Child Nutrition Programs?
Pediatricians play a pivotal role in connecting families with vital resources like SNAP and the Child Nutrition programs. Often many families are not aware of what programs exist in their community to provide the support and resources they need to provide adequate and consistent healthy food for their children. Anthem Foundation is proud to partner with FRAC to provide tools to pediatricians in an effort to better identify families impacted by food insecurity and link them to the resources they need such as SNAP and Child Nutritional programs.
How can pediatricians advocate for policies and programs to address food insecurity?
Pediatricians have the opportunity and responsibility to advocate for children on issues impacting their health. With the right tools and training, pediatricians working with health plans can ramp up sustainable efforts to address food insecurity among their patients and families. By identifying where the needs are, pediatricians can advocate at the federal, state, and local levels use their voices, both collectively and individually, to urge continued support for interventions and programs that provide access to healthy food. This type of advocacy by pediatricians, like myself, is important in making a difference in the health and wellbeing of young people and their families.
Alex Rakowsky, MD
Columbus, Ohio
Affiliations:
Primary Care Clinic, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Why is it important for pediatricians/pediatric practices to screen for food insecurity?
The lack of adequate food not only has important physical impacts on our patients (such as not focusing in school, fatigue, etc) but more importantly has emotional impacts. As humans we love to feed those that we love. Parents that do not have the resources to feed their children adequately definitely feel that they are not showing this love and the children may, with time, feel let down not only by their families but by society in general. Thus, we are screening for this to both help solve acute issues but also longer term human development issues.
Why is it important to connect food-insecure families to SNAP and the Child Nutrition Programs?
The help that they provide are invaluable to many of our families. While SNAP is used extensively by our families, I feel that they are not aware of the other programs for which they qualify, such as school meals, summer meal programs and the ability to obtain food for toddlers through WIC.
How can pediatricians advocate for policies and programs to address food insecurity?
As the data develop showing that good eating plays a vital role in having children develop I think we need to show this to our legislatures. The impact of adequate food is long lasting and is vital to the development of a healthy society. We need to let our leaders, locally, state and federal, know about this.
Kisti Catalano, MD
LaGrange, Illinois
Affiliations:
Chief Medical Officer, SVP, Internal Medicine/Pediatric Physician. Pillars Community Health
Why is it important for pediatricians/pediatric practices to screen for food insecurity?
Screening for food insecurity is a family issue, not just a pediatric issue. It takes just a brief time to screen for food insecurity. The team, not just the provider, does the screening. We all are concerned about our time. The medical team plays an active role in helping the families in a non-threatening manner is vital.
Why is it important to connect food-insecure families to SNAP and the Child Nutrition Programs?
The help that they provide are invaluable to many of our families. While SNAP is used extensively by our families, I feel that they are not aware of the other programs for which they qualify, such as school meals, summer meal programs and the ability to obtain food for toddlers through WIC.
How can pediatricians advocate for policies and programs to address food insecurity?
We have vaccine schedules. We have lead screen schedules. As part of the well child checks, we also need schedules on when to screen for food insecurities. For example, at new patient visit or at set well child checks, there should be food insecurity questions built into the well child check templates.