Abbott announced that its Healthy Food Rx programme improves diabetes management, based on recent research by the Public Health Institute Center for Wellness and Nutrition.
According to the research, the ‘food is medicine’ approach improved diet quality and health status among participants, confirming the programme’s potential in diabetes management.
The randomised controlled clinical trials assessed the effects of Abbott’s Healthy Food Rx in a food-insecure, low-income community of 364 diabetes patients over six months.
The programme offers home-delivered healthy meal boxes and nutrition education to address diabetes.
Public Health Institute Centre for Wellness and Nutrition executive director Erika Takada said: “Living with diabetes in an economically underserved community can present numerous challenges, from limited access to affordable, healthy foods to a lack of appropriate health services.
“Even with a programme that reaches participants just twice a month, we are seeing benefits in people with diabetes eating better foods and feeling healthier.
“This underscores the foundational role that good nutrition can play in helping to address the impact of diabetes and other chronic diseases on our families and communities.”
Key findings from the study include enhanced diet quality, with participants reporting increased vegetable consumption and fruit intake compared to the control group.
In addition, participants experienced significant improvements in self-reported physical health status, rising from 38% to 63% over six months, compared to the control group’s slight increase from 47% to 50%.
Both groups showed lowered A1C levels, with the intervention group and control group experiencing reductions of 0.7% and 1.2%, respectively.
These changes surpass the 0.5% benchmark for clinically significant improvement in diabetes management.
Participants expressed high satisfaction with the programme, with 98% satisfied and 97% utilising most of the food.
A notable 67% shared the food with two or more people, and 99% were inclined to recommend the programme to others.
Launched in 2021, Abbott’s Healthy Food Rx is one of the largest community-focused food is medicine programmes in the US, reaching over 1,700 participants.
The study findings build on a previous 12-month study demonstrating significant benefits for participants with diabetes.
Abbott collaborated with PHI CWN and Stockton-based organisations to design and implement Healthy Food Rx, supported by funding from Abbott Fund.
The programme identified participants through CMC, a local health centre, and provided food boxes from the Emergency Food Bank Stockton/San Joaquin.
These boxes, delivered bi-weekly, included ingredients for healthy meals, recipe cards, and optional online cooking classes for additional guidance and diabetes education.
Abbott Fund president and Abbott global marketing and external affairs senior vice president Melissa Brotz said: “We’re pleased that results from Abbott’s Healthy Food Rx can contribute to a better understanding of the impacts that programmes like this can have for people living with diabetes.
“By integrating healthy food and nutrition education as part of a broader effort to remove barriers to care, we’re helping people to feel more in control and take an active role in managing their health.”
