Food Insecurity Among Medical Students: A Growing Crisis That Demands Action
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A recent multi-institutional study published in JAMA Network Open revealed that more than one in five U.S. medical students, 21.2%, experience food insecurity, nearly double the national household average. The findings raise urgent questions about how future physicians can be expected to succeed academically and clinically when their most basic needs are not being met.
The study, which surveyed over 1,800 students across eight medical schools, found that food insecurity was especially prevalent among racial and ethnic minority students, those with dependents, and those with high educational debt or reliance on loans and scholarships for tuition. For example, students relying on private loans had up to nine times higher odds of experiencing food insecurity compared with peers receiving parental support.
Researchers warn that food insecurity not only undermines physical and mental health but may also exacerbate burnout, delay career progression, and increase attrition among trainees. Alarmingly, disparities were most pronounced for students from underrepresented backgrounds in medicine and those who had received Pell grants, underscoring systemic inequities that could shape the physician workforce of tomorrow.
Food Insecurity Prevalence Among US Medical Students (Shanab, BA, Khoksla, BA, Hammad, MSc, JAMA Open, 8/29).
