Food Insecurity Among Sexual Minorities
Not everyone has access to adequate food supply.
Food insecurity is an economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate foods to support a healthy life. Roughly 10.5% of U.S. households were classified as food insecure in 2020.
To tackle this problem, it’s important to know which demographics are most at risk. Combing through seven cycles of data (2003–2016) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a team of Canadian researchers determined that moderate-to-severe food insecurity was more prevalent in the U.S. population among people who are bisexual or lesbian/gay and other sexual minorities than among heterosexuals.
A contributing factor could be that people in a sexual minority experience significant gaps in economic opportunities and access to certain social programs than those faced by their heterosexual counterparts.
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD, is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist, dietitian and author of the cookbook Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sport + Adventure (VeloPress 2016). He has written for dozens of magazines, including Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness.
