According to a new study, medical food delivery tailored to the needs of individuals with type 2 diabetes with food insecurity was shown to reduce hemoglobin A1c significantly, with the absence of measurable diet improvement. Food insecurity is one of the significant obstacles to the control of diabetes. Food insecurity has been previously established to be related to the risks of complications in diabetes. In this study, with the intervention of diabetes-appropriate meals delivered to the subjects and health education, there was significant improvement in their condition. The study was published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior by Eliza S. and colleagues.
This trial was a single-arm pre-post study that was carried out in 101 participants with type 2 diabetes. This trial recruited English, Spanish, or Marshallese-speaking participants aged 18 years and older recruited from food pantries in Northwest Arkansas in August 2021 and February 2023. The target population for this trial belonged to a group that faces multiple risks for poor health due to food insecurity in addition to having metabolic conditions like diabetes. In this trial, participants were provided with home-delivered boxes containing groceries every week that were specially selected for people with type 2 diabetes. The grocery boxes were provided along with education materials for diabetes self-management for participants in the trial.
The primary outcomes were measured at baseline (preintervention) and after completion of the 12-week intervention (postintervention). These included glycemic control measured by hemoglobin A1c and diet quality assessed using the Healthy Eating Index–2015. All analyses used mixed-effects regression models, adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, household size, education level, and employment status.
Key findings:
• In 101 patients with type 2 diabetes and food insecurity, hemoglobin A1c levels reduced by 0.56% units after 12 weeks of medically tailored grocery home-delivery (P = 0.01)
• The intervention consisted of 12 weeks of home-delivered boxes of foods appropriate for patients with diabetes.
• However, the Healthy Eating Index-2015 scores showed no significant difference (P = 0.47).
• The study recruited patients from the food pantries of Northwest Arkansas between August 2021 and February 2023.
• The models were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicities, household size, educational attainment, and employment status.
A home-delivered, medically tailored food intervention resulted in a significant reduction in hemoglobin A1c levels in food-insecure individuals with type 2 diabetes, despite a lack of measurable improvement in diet quality. These data have several implications regarding the impact of improved food availability improving glycemic control in diabetes disparities related to food insecurity.
Reference:
Short, E., Li, J., Selig, J. P., Bounds, K., Rowland, B., Faitak, B., Lane, J., Solis-Garcia, R., Felix, H. C., Langston, K., McElfish, P. A., Mejia-Otera, J., Haggard-Duff, L., & Long, C. R. (2025). Medically tailored grocery delivery for food pantry clients with diabetes. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 57(12), 1181–1189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2025.08.006
