The article, "The Design and Impact of a Clinic-Based Community Program on Food Insecurity, Healthy Eating Behaviors, and Mood" published in Nutrients, is based on the Geaux Get Healthy Clinical Program.
The American Heart Association, LSU Health, Our Lady of the Lake, HealthyBR, and Top Box Foods (TBF) collaborate to provide a clinical health intervention for food-insecure participants. The two-year FISH study shows that free access to nutritionally-tailored TBF boxes (combined with free cooking classes, nutrition classes, grocery store tours, and transportation assistance) improves food security, healthy eating behaviors, and depression.
View the full study here. View LSU Health's summary article here.
Highlights:
- Programming combined free cooking and grocery shopping education, nutrition education, community/social support, transportation assistance, and healthy food access.
- 57 food-insecure participants & patients completed the full program and study.
- The majority of participants were African-American women, were from the low food access zip code 70805, had below $25,000 in household income, and had diabetes, prediabetes, obesity, depression, and/or hypertension.
- Food security scores and fruit and vegetable consumption improved at program completion and continued to improve six months after enrollment.
- Food literacy, healthy shopping behaviors, and healthy cooking behaviors improved during and after this program.
- Average depression scores changed from "mild depression" at the beginning of the program to "normal" after completing the program.