Study Shows Access To Healthy Meals Boosts DC Youth's Well Being

GEORGETOWN, D.C. — Food insecurity among children and families is on the rise in the District and across the country. Job loss, evictions, financial strain and hunger have complicated people's lives. In order to support some of the most vulnerable families in the D.C. area, No Kid Hungry partnered with the team at the division of community pediatrics at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and Chef Erik Bruner-Yang’s Power of 10 Initiative to develop the “Healthy Children and Families program.”

The program aimed to analyze ways of connecting families with young children to the food they need for maintain good health during the coronavirus pandemic. Adrienne Carter with No Kid Hungry told Patch that most of the families involved in the study came from Medstar Georgetown DCP’s current patient population. Bruner-Yang and his restaurant staff at his Power of 10-affiliated restaurants prepared the healthy ready-to-heat and eat meals. They were delivered along with nutrition education materials to families twice a week, providing one meal per day per family member for 10 weeks.

The results of the pilot study revealed that food insecurity decreased from 75 percent to 21 percent, while three out of four families ate more fruits and vegetables. The program will be extended for another year to test how healthy food access and education can improve health outcomes for young children who are living with obesity, asthma, allergies or developmental and behavioral outcomes and their parents.

"The results were striking. Ninety percent of caregivers reported that this program decreased their worries related to food. Only one family reported missing a meal," Carter said.