A greater percentage of Twin Cities families, compared with families across the state and nation, lack consistent access to healthy, affordable food.

Abstract

Welcome to Public Health Moment from the University of Minnesota. A greater percentage of Twin Cities families, compared with families across the state and nation, lack consistent access to healthy, affordable food. That’s according to new research from the University of Minnesota. The highest rates of what is called food insecurity were found in women, Asian Americans (primarily Hmong) and other non-white racial groups, and single parents. Meg Bruening, a PhD student involved in the research, explains why we should be concerned. <Bruening: “What we found is that food insecure parents had poorer nutritional outcomes. There’s less access to fruits and vegetables, parents were more likely to report skipping breakfast, or serving less healthy foods at meals. And, so, that relates to their overall health. We also found that food insecure parents had higher prevalences of overweight and obesity compared to food secure parents.”> For this study, researchers didn’t look at why the Twin Cities had higher rates of families lacking access to healthy and affordable food, but Bruening provides some possible reasons.