High Food Insecurity among Surgical Patients Points to Modifiable Intervention

Jones A, Ehsan A, Katave C, et al. Food Insecurity in US Surgical Patients: Findings from the National Health Interview Survey. JAMA Surg. 2025;160;(8):845–853.

Podugu P, Ho V, and Crandall M. Addressing Food Insecurity among US Surgical Patients. JAMA Surg. 2025;160(8)853–854.

Surgical patients are significantly more likely than nonsurgical patients to report 30-day food insecurity.

Annabelle Jones, from Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues used cross-sectional data on more than a half-million adults participating in the 2011–2018 National Health Interview Survey to conduct what they said was the first study to characterize the epidemiology of food insecurity and utilization of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) in the US surgical population. 

They found that patients who had undergone surgery in the prior year (n = 32,823) were 12% more likely than nonsurgical patients to have food insecurity and that food insecurity was strongly linked to lower income and overall poor health; the results were consistent across all years. 

In a related commentary, Pooja Podugu and colleagues from MetroHealth in Cleveland, Ohio, said these findings were particularly valuable given the vital role of nutrition in wound healing and postoperative recovery. They recommend further nuanced and prospective investigation on the timing of food insecurity and its presence in elective versus emergency or trauma populations for effective mitigation.