2017 Community Benefit Report CHAI_160088756_2018-11_2017 Community Benefit Repo | Page 12

2017 COMMUNITY BENEFIT REPORT
Fighting Hunger
Working to improve food security for Colorado’s kids
Eating healthy foods helps kids develop physically and behaviorally, achieve academically and experience a
better quality of life. Unfortunately, for thousands of kids in Colorado, good nutrition is often out of reach.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food insecurity is defined as a “lack of consistent access to
enough food for an active, healthy life.” Kids in low-income families, rural areas and communities of color are
at a higher risk of being food insecure, yet those who qualify for food assistance programs sometimes struggle
to use those services due to systemic barriers, lack of transportation, language challenges or fear of accessing
government services.
Realizing the magnitude of the challenge
In 2016, Children’s Hospital Colorado began screening for food insecurity in its Child Health Clinic, one of the
largest providers of pediatric primary care for Medicaid patients in Aurora. This involved training staff and
providers to ask questions that helped them understand the level of food insecurity in their population.
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL COLORADO
A vision for the future
In its first year, the Food Security Council has developed a strategic roadmap that includes meeting the
healthy food needs of Children’s Colorado team members and low-income patients, equipping low-income
patients with access to adequate nutrition, collaborating with community partners and driving policy change
that improves systemic access to food for vulnerable children and their families.
This includes improving enrollment rates in Colorado for federal food assistance programs, like the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
Women, Infants and Children (WIC), which are vital to ending hunger.
“Even if a child comes from a tough family or home situation, interventions like SNAP can help them reach
their individual potential. These programs can be critical in addressing a whole range of factors across the life
span, such as improving health outcomes, alleviating chronic conditions or bettering education outcomes,”
says Aditi. “Addressing hunger can lift the trajectory of a child’s life.”
The Food Security Council’s Vision: By 2023, at least 90% of Colorado’s
vulnerable children will have access to timely, quality and affordable food
that meets their health needs.
“I remember the first day we screened my patients for food insecurity and two families screened positive. I’d
seen them so many times, cared for multiple children and it never came up. I just remember thinking, ‘Thank
God we’re screening because we’re giving families a safe space to talk about their food challenges and we can
do something about it,’” says Child Health Clinic Associate Medical Director Christina Suh, MD, MPH.
If a family screens positive for food insecurity, they’re connected with Hunger Free Colorado, a community-
based organization that links families with food resources and helps them navigate the process of applying
for food assistance programs. Dr. Suh says this critical partnership with Hunger Free Colorado has served as a
launching pad for connecting with many other entities in the state who are also committed to ending hunger.
Forming a Food Security Council
“After we started screening, food insecurity became a hot topic in the medical community, and over the past
two years, there’s been a lot of energy and activation around the topic in our own organization,” says Dr. Suh.
As a result, Dr. Suh worked to convene a multidisciplinary group of Children’s Colorado stakeholders, including
dietitians, population health experts, Healthy Hospital and Government Affairs staff, who came together to
form the Food Security Council.
The Food Security Council works alongside key community partners, particularly Hunger Free Colorado, and
was a key stakeholder in the creation of the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger in 2017. This initiative started
when the Colorado Health Foundation brought over 35 stakeholders, either working to end hunger or living
with hunger, together over several months to create a blueprint to achieve the goal of a hunger-free Colorado.
“As a large healthcare provider for children in our state, we have a responsibility to look beyond our walls and
into the community to see how we can take up preventive solutions to address costly and persistent health
disparities before they begin,” says Aditi Ramaswami, Children’s Colorado senior policy coordinator for healthy
eating and active living.
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1 IN 6
Colorado kids don’t always know where
their next meal will come from
Colorado could save
$1 TO 2
BILLION
Annually if we addressed food insecurity, due to the
amount of healthcare costs attached to this issue
74%
Of SNAP enrollees in Colorado are
families with children
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