The Kings Fund – Why preventing food insecurity will support the NHS and save lives

This long read from the NHS Confederation highlights how rising food insecurity is increasing the prevalence of physical and mental health conditions caused by hunger and unhealthy diets.

Rising rates of food insecurity are a national crisis and put the most vulnerable at risk. With the scale of increases in the cost of healthy food choices, there is a risk of devastating and long-lasting impacts on people’s health and wellbeing. This in turn impacts the demand for NHS services to treat the acute and chronic conditions caused by hunger and unhealthy diets. As the increasing rate of food insecurity is largely being driven by the cost-of-living crisis, government policies need to support those most at risk in order to address the root cause.