It is a surprising reality: The extent of hunger in Massachusetts has more than doubled what it was three years ago. Often, it is the children in low- income families who suffer most, having more health and behavioral issues than children who have enough food. 

To address this issue, Ron Kleinman, MD, acting physician-in-chief at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, along with Project Bread, Massachusetts’ leading anti-hunger organization, worked with the MGH Community Benefit Program and the MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center to launch an innovative program in 2003 linking food assistance with health care. The initiative, Food for Families, aims to identify hungry families during the child’s routine pediatric health care visit with a simple screening tool. The families identified as hungry are then directed to appropriate food assistance programs and services.

“The Food for Families program came about as a way to help families who were hungry and examine the relationship between hunger and poor health,” says Kleinman. “An outreach worker meets with the families and helps to identify all possible sources of food for which the families may be eligible. Often, hungry families underutilize all types of food assistance programs such as free school meals or food stamps. To date, using the screening tool, we have uncovered a hunger rate of approximately 10 percent in the clinics where the program is active.”

Since its inception, Food for Families has helped hundreds of families receive assistance. The program has become a vital part of the MGH HealthCare Centers in Chelsea and Revere and has been enhanced with financial support from the MGH and Partners HealthCare Community Benefit programs. Now, with additional support from Project Bread and Partners HealthCare, Food for Families is expanding to eight Partners-affiliated health centers. In August, Kleinman and Matt Fishman, Partners vice president for Community Health, were recognized by the Boston Business Journal as “Health Care Champions” for their work with the Food for Families program. On Sept. 20, they will be acknowledged along with the other honorees  at a special event at the Sheraton Boston Hotel.

For more information about the program, contact Sarah Oo, director of MGH Chelsea’s Community Health Program, at (617) 887-4305.