NEW YORK — Today, Andrew Yang released his plan to prioritize preventative care and food security, as critical parts of managing our nation’s health. Preventative care and providing education on building healthy habits will help people live longer, healthier lives.
“As a country, we should offer incentives for food banks and clinics to partner together to promote food accessibility and reduce health disparities, and encourage doctors to educate their patients about the importance of diet, nutrition, and physical activity on overall health,” said Andrew Yang. “Our focus on healthcare needs to shift from paying for it when we get sick, to educating ourselves in preventative care and ensuring everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food, actions that will make us healthier and reduce costs.”
Patients should have low-cost access to essential preventative care, like physicals and cancer screenings. By focusing on our citizens’ health before they get sick, we can reduce the huge costs associated with managing chronic health conditions.
Food security through public health intervention not only ensures Americans have enough food, it has the potential of reducing the development of malnutrition, cardiovascular disease, and other health risks. America is one of the most developed countries in the world, but 41 million Americans face hunger, including nearly 13 million children. Food insecurity disproportionately affects households with children led by single women and people living below the poverty level. This extensive problem has a solution, but it needs the support of the food banks, clinics, and the federal government.
We have to build programs that create partnerships between clinics and food banks to address food security and health. Indianapolis has implemented a program like this in 2017 and continues to serve an average of 135 households in the community. Imagine how many Americans we can promise nutritious food at the table to by implementing this on a larger scale.
Read Andrew Yang’s plan to prioritize preventative care and food security here.