Food Insecurity

Information for Health Professionals

Household food insecurity – the inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints – is a serious public health issue. You can use the resources to guide understanding of the issue in Canadian health and social context, inform program and policy development, and address myths and misconceptions of the experience of household food insecurity and effective actions to address it.

Evidence Review: Household Food Insecurity

You can use this comprehensive review of evidence to:

  • To understand the nutrition beliefs, knowledge, and practices of households at risk of food insecurity
  • Apply effectiveness evidence to program and policy development

Identification of Food Insecurity in Healthcare Settings: Recommendations for Nutrition Services

You can use this comprehensive review of the evidence to guide decisions about screening. Key findings explored in detail in this report:

  • Screen for poverty to identify this income-related issue, rather than specifically screen for HFI.
  • Long, short, and brief tools exist to identify HFI. However, the predominant action HFI screening leads to is food program referral, which is not an effective or recommended screening action.

Practice Support Resources

The following letter templates can be used to support funding requests for special diets & nutrition products:

Related Resources