Table 1.

Food Insecurity Screening Considerations for the Dietetics Practitioner

Food Insecurity Screening
Who can screen?	Who should be screened?	Possible actions
Community providers (e.g., school nurses, social workers, senior living administrators) Clinical providers working in both inpatient and outpatient settings (e.g., care coordinators, disease management and discharge planning teams) Dietetics professionals working in community or clinic settings	Populations at higher risk for food insecurity include: Income groups near or below 185% of the poverty line1 Rural households1 Single adult-headed households with and without children1 Hispanic1, black1, and American Indian households2 Low-income households with a disabled adult3 or member living with certain chronic health conditions4, such as HIV, diabetes, or mental illness Persons accessing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)1 or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program1	Linkage by community health worker, social worker, or nurse case manager to federal food assistance programs and/or charitable food providers Referral to dietetics practitioner to initiate the Nutrition Care Process for additional nutrition assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and monitoring/evaluation

¹Coleman-Jensen A, Rabbitt MP, Gregory CA, Singh A. Household food security in the United States in 2015. United States Department of Agriculture; 2016. Economic Research Report 215;

²Gundersen C. Measuring the extent, depth, and severity of food insecurity: an application to American Indians in the USA. J Popul Econ. 2008;21(1):191–215;

³Coleman-Jensen A, Nord M. Food insecurity among households with working-age adults with disabilities. USDA-ERS; 2013;

⁴Tarasuk V, Mitchell A, McLaren L, McIntyre L. Chronic physical and mental health conditions among adults may increase vulnerability to household food insecurity. J Nutr. 2013;143(11):1785–1793