WHEP Scholar Erica Riddick
Drexel University College of Medicine, Class of 2024

Vulnerable communities often struggle with balanced dietary intake due to lack of access to proper nutrition and/or a decreased understanding of adequate dietary practices. The elderly population, specifically, often faces unique nutritional health barriers. Of these barriers, health literacy and food security are of particular interest, due to their significant impact on health, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Although barriers to proper nutrition have been discussed in previous literature, the elderly population is often overlooked. Yet, their unique pre-existing circumstances make poor dietary quality more likely among their age group.

Both health literacy and food insecurity could drastically impact nutritional intake in older adults, thus increasing their risk for chronic health conditions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of food security and health literacy in older adults and determine any association with dietary quality. This study will enroll a cohort of veterans aged 65 and above with impaired mobility participating in the Gerofit program at the VAMC in Baltimore, Maryland. Participants in this study will be asked to virtually complete the USDA Household Food Security Survey (6 item), the BRIEF Health Literacy Survey (4 item), and a 24-hour dietary recall using ASA24. The participant responses will then be analyzed to determine associations between food security, health literacy and dietary quality. We hypothesize that individuals with poor health literacy and/or low food security may also have inadequate dietary quality. This conclusion would support that both food insecurity and poor health literacy can serve as nutritional barriers in older adults.