Food Insecurity and Diabetes Prevention and Control in California

Food Insecurity and Diabetes Prevention and Control in California

This issue brief was developed by Hilary K. Seligman, MD, MAS an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco Center for Vulnerable Populations at San Francisco General Hospital.

Food insecurity in California substantially impedes progress in diabetes prevention and control efforts and contributes to widening socioeconomic and ethnic disparities in diabetes incidence. Food insecurity, a phenomenon that affects the entire household, is also an important contributor to the heightened risk of diabetes among Californians. Strategies at the State, county, and local level can help reduce the burden of food insecurity across California. Such strategies will likely translate into decreased progression from pre-diabetes to diabetes and decreased diabetes complications in the low-income communities disproportionately burdened by the disease.

Author:

Hilary K. Seligman, MD< MAS

Assistant Professor of Medicine

UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations

San Francisco General Hospital

hseligman@medsfgh.ucsf.edu

(415) 206-4448

Editor:

Dean Schillinger, MD

UCSF Professor of Medicine

UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations

San Francisco General Hospital

dschillinger@medsfgh.ucsf.edu