Adherence
Produce prescription programs, which provide financial incentives for low-income individuals to purchase fruits and vegetables, significantly improve fruit and vegetable intake, reduce food insecurity, and yield clinically relevant improvements in glycated hemoglobin, blood pressure, and BMI for adults with poor cardiometabolic health.
If you or your family are struggling to afford fresh produce, look for local 'produce prescription' programs often offered through community health centers or clinics. These programs provide vouchers or cards to buy fruits and vegetables, often for free or at a reduced cost, which can help lower blood pressure and blood sugar while improving overall diet quality.
In this large, multisite evaluation, produce prescriptions were associated with significant improvements in F&V intake, food security, and health status for adults and children, and clinically relevant improvements in glycated hemoglobin, blood pressure, and BMI for adults with poor cardiometabolic health.
Why this rating
Large multisite evaluation (N=3881) with robust statistical adjustments, though it is a pre-post observational design rather than a randomized controlled trial.
Source
Impact of Produce Prescriptions on Diet, Food Security, and Cardiometabolic Health Outcomes: A Multisite Evaluation of 9 Produce Prescription Programs in the United States
Kurt Hager et al. · Circulation Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes · 2023
DOI 10.1161/circoutcomes.122.009520
More from this paper
- Produce prescription programs significantly reduce household food insecurity and improve self-reported health status in both adults and children.Good
- Produce prescription programs do not significantly change BMI z-score in children, despite improvements in fruit and vegetable intake and food security.Good
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