In the United States, seven out of the 10 leading causes of death are directly related to diet. This is largely because risk factors like high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol are connected to the foods we eat. Food insecurity, or not having access to or the ability to afford nutritious food, is largely contributing to diet-sensitive chronic conditions. Because of the known health outcomes observed among children and adults, food insecurity is now recognized as a leading nutrition-related health-care issue. If we want to address diet-sensitive chronic conditions, we must acknowledge that food security is an important part of the solution. 

To address food insecurity and common diet-sensitive chronic conditions, the Boone Cooperative Extension Service presented the four-lesson Food as Health series with topics including budgets, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. The goal of this interactive series was to provide information about preventing or managing common diet-sensitive health conditions, while also respecting limited resources and food accessibility across Kentucky.  

Forty-one adult men and women from the general public participated in one or more of the weekly sessions. Each program included an informational talk and discussion, and sampling or preparing a healthy recipe. Recipes used in the program were designed to show participants that healthier, lower-sodium, higher fiber options were easy to prepare and budget friendly. 

Follow-up evaluations collected three months after the final session to capture participants’ behavior change indicated:

83 percent added more fiber to their diet by incorporating small changes 

78 percent now use the Nutrition Facts labels on foods to make the best choice for their food dollars

74 percent decreased the amount of sodium in their diet

70 percent saved money by properly storing and preparing foods

67 percent of participants made at least one of the recipes from class in their own homes

65 percent saved money by planning ahead when shopping for food

61 percent replaced saturated fats with unsaturated fats in their diets with an eye on heart health

Participants shared some of the most impactful things they learned through the series including: 

• Increased knowledge of the amounts of sodium in foods.
• Better understand food labels and now use them to make the best choices while ignoring the large print on packing that may lead you to believe an item is healthy.
• Reduced our serving sizes

10-1-2024