Effects of a "Food Is Medicine" Intervention on Glucose Control Among Medicaid-Insured Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Top Things to Know

Medically tailored groceries can function as an effective adjunct to standard diabetes care.

Moderate levels of grocery support produced meaningful clinical and food-security benefits.

Dose escalation did not appear to provide additional glycemic benefit in this study.

Summary of Conclusion/Findings

This randomized controlled trial enrolled 438 Medicaid-insured adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes and tested six months of medically tailored groceries plus nutrition support. Compared with usual care, the intervention reduced hemoglobin A1c by an additional 0.40 percentage points and significantly improved food and nutrition security. Improvements were observed despite modest participation in nutrition counseling and were consistent across prespecified subgroups. No significant differences were observed for body mass index or hypertension outcomes. The study provides high-quality evidence that medically tailored groceries can improve both glycemic control and food-related social needs among high-risk populations.