Dietary Food Security and Diabetes Outcomes

Top Things to Know

The findings suggest that ensuring access to healthy foods may be one of the most immediate and reliable benefits of FIM interventions for people with diabetes.

The review indicated that clinically meaningful glycemic improvements were uncommon, indicating that food support may need to be paired with nutrition education, diabetes self-management support, and other healthcare services.

FIM programs are able to address both medical and social needs simultaneously.

Summary of Conclusion/Findings

This rapid systematic review evaluated 23 U.S.-based studies examining Food Is Medicine (FIM) interventions for adults with type 2 diabetes. Across the studies, FIM programs were most consistently associated with improvements in food security and dietary behaviors, with 8 of 10 studies reporting significant reductions in food insecurity and 14 of 19 studies showing increased fruit and vegetable intake. Glycemic outcomes were less consistent: although 9 of 21 quantitative studies found statistically significant reductions in HbA1c, only 2 studies demonstrated clinically meaningful improvements of at least 1 percentage point. Qualitative findings suggested that participants perceived better diet quality, improved diabetes self-management, and reduced financial stress related to food and medication costs. However, most studies were rated as fair quality, used heterogeneous methods, and lacked rigorous comparative designs, limiting confidence in the overall evidence base. The authors conclude that FIM programs may improve diet, food security, and diabetes outcomes, but stronger and longer-term studies are needed to determine their true clinical effectiveness.