As obesity becomes increasingly common in the U.S., food banks are trying to help their visitors manage diabetes as well as hunger, says The New York Times. Historically, food banks tried to satiate hunger with whatever food they could, even if it meant doling out chips and cans of sugary barbecue beans. But many of the people looking for food aid now suffer from poor nutrition and dangerous blood sugar levels, rather than too few calories.
“In 2014, one-third of the 15.5 million households served by Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, reported that a household member had diabetes,” says Times. The disease is exacerbated by inconsistent meals, and many food-aid recipients lack enough food at the end of the month as they wait for their next paycheck.
“If there is one thing you need as a person with diabetes in order to control your blood sugar well, it’s stable access to food,” said Dr. Hilary K. Seligman, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who is heading a diabetes pilot project at three food banks in Texas, California and Ohio.
As part of the program, food bank employees find more nourishing options for those suffering from diabetes. Instead of processed snacks, the employees fill diabetics’ baskets with nutrient-dense options like peanut butter and vegetables. So far, the results have been positive. “In a pilot study of nearly 700 food pantry visitors … published in Health Affairs last November, participants with the worst blood sugar readings managed modest improvements in a relatively short time,” says the Times.
For many pantry visitors, the food bank is the best place to receive diabetes care. Many don’t see a physician regularly, and even if they did, doctors don’t often ask whether a patient can afford groceries the entire month before they make dietary recommendations.