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Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health

Population Health Research Brief Series

Nonfinancial Factors Shape Food Insecurity Among U.S. Older Adults

Madonna Harrington Meyer and Colleen M. Heflin

September 2025

Portrait of a smiling person with short gray hair, wearing a blue ruffled shirt, set against a blurred green background.

Madonna Harrington Meyer


Colleen Heflin

Colleen Heflin


Abstract

Nonfinancial factors such as poor physical and mental health, lack of access to healthy food, and transportation challenges make it more difficult for older adults to obtain, prepare, and consume healthy food. Based on the book, Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adults Food Insecurity, this brief summarizes how nonfinancial factors function as both causes and consequences of food insecurity in old age. 

Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health