MO Health Dept Releases Senior Food Insecurity Report
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services released its 2018 Senior Food Insecurity Report– calling it the first of its kind in the nation.
It’s an in-depth study of the factors contributing to senior hunger. Of the more than 1.3 million seniors in 2015, more than 170,000 of them did not have regular access to food.
The study looks at the spectrum of the problem, the factors in financial difficulties, as well as ways to address the problem by promoting at-home services, improving geriatric dental care, and creation of “food pharmacies”, saying good nutrition can save thousands of dollars in health care costs.
The 2018 Missouri Senior Hunger Report features:
- The common causes of food insecurity.
- A summary of how food insecurity is measured in the United States.
- A break down of the most common factors:
- Household Income
- Demographic Predictors
- Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
- Residential Area Type
- The affects of food insecurity and how it affects healthcare costs.
- How seniors cope with food insecurity.
- An outline of the public and private nutritional assistance programs currently available to Missouri seniors.
- A list of proposed actions to help alleviate local senior food insecurity.
View the entire 2018 Senior Food Insecurity Report at health.mo.gov/SeniorHunger.