Fueling Health: Overcoming Food Barriers in Cystic Fibrosis Care.

Background: Food insecurity is increasing in prevalence throughout the general population and has been noted to substantially exist within the cystic fibrosis (CF) community as well. Nutritional grant programs are in place to provide additional support to people with cystic fibrosis (PwCF). This study was designed to determine the current usage rate of nutritional grant funding as well as clinical outcomes such as body mass index (BMI). We aim to describe our CF center's enrollment and usage of privately funded nutritional grants and explore potential correlations to nutrition clinical outcomes.

Methods: A single center retrospective chart review of the electronic health records (EHR) to collect requested data points was completed for all PwCF seen at that center between the dates of March 1, 2017 and February 29, 2024.

Results: Two hundred and nineteen individuals met inclusion criteria. Over the course of the study period, the total number of PwCF enrolled in supplemental nutritional grant program(s) and amount of grant utilization increased steadily from 9% enrolled with 17% utilization in 2017 to 27% enrolled with 44% utilization in 2022, respectively. The percentage of PwCF with a BMI below Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) recommended goals also decreased over the course of the study period from 39% in 2017 to 31% in 2022.

Conclusions: We conclude that the results of our study support continued efforts to identify and remediate the presence of food insecurity within the CF community.