Research

Adherence

Vigorous federal, state, and community financial assistance programs during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly improved food security and the healthfulness of food choices for a majority of US adults, particularly among lower-income and minority demographics.

If you are facing food insecurity or struggling to eat healthily during a crisis, prioritize accessing available government assistance programs (like SNAP, emergency food benefits, or community aid). These programs are designed to remove the financial and access barriers that prevent healthy eating, and data shows they can successfully improve both food security and diet quality for vulnerable populations.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Vigorous federal, state, city, and community responses to the pandemic may have played a role in improving the food security and food choice healthfulness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Suzannah Gerber et al. · Current Developments in Nutrition · 2023

Why this rating

Cross-sectional survey data with self-reported outcomes; strong association but limited causal inference compared to RCTs.

Source

Changes in Food Security, Healthfulness, and Access During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: Results From a National United States Survey

Suzannah Gerber et al. · Current Developments in Nutrition · 2023

DOI 10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.100060

cross_sectional · n=1878Cited 8×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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