Media note: Sound bites with Nelson and Lurie are available on the Newsline at (612) 625-6666.
Contacts:
Dr. Karin Nelson, resident in internal medicine, Hennepin County Medical Center, (612) 347-2702 Dr. Nicole Lurie, professor of medicine, (612) 626-0973 Teri Charest, Academic Health Center Communications, (612) 624-4604
Minnesota researchers find HIGH RATEs of HUNGER LINKED TO FOOD STAMP CUTS
Researchers at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota have found links between recent reductions in food stamp allowances, hunger and poor health. The study, one of few to evaluate the relationship between these factors, will appear in the
April 15 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The team interviewed 567 patients at HCMC. Twelve percent said they did not have enough food, and 13 percent reported not eating for an entire day because they could not afford food. Approximately half of the 222 patients who were receiving food stamps in the previous year had had their benefits reduced or eliminated. These patients were more likely to report hunger and food insecurity than those whose benefits had not changed.
ìWe hope this sends a message to policy-makers,î said Dr. Nicole Lurie, professor of medicine and public health. ìCuts in food stamps may not be benign. ItÃs another example of squeezing the balloon. There are clear health consequences and often expensive ones, at least for people with diabetes.î Half the savings in the current welfare reform are expected to come from decreased federal funding for food and nutrition programs, according to federal budget numbers.
Lurie and colleagues Dr. Karin Nelson, lead author and third-year internal medicine resident at HCMC, and Margaret Brown, a graduate student in the universityÃs Institute for Health Services Research, conducted the study after Lurie discovered that several of her diabetic patients had quit taking insulin because they could not afford the food needed for the insulin to work properly. Several were hospitalized with life-threatening consequences of not taking insulin.
The researchers also surveyed 170 diabetics who were filling their insulin prescriptions at the HCMC pharmacy. Of the 103 who reported insulin reactions, 32 said it was because they could not afford food.
"Medication adherence and diet compliance just canÃt be a high priority for patients with limited access to food," Nelson said. "We are increasingly concerned that ongoing food stamp cuts will result in adverse health consequences and that weÃve only seen the tip of the iceberg.î
The study was funded in part by the Allina Foundation in Minneapolis.
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