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Indiana Value:
Percentage of adults age 60 and older who lack access to enough food for an active and healthy life due to limited financial resources
Indiana Rank:
Percentage of adults age 60 and older who lack access to enough food for an active and healthy life due to limited financial resources
3.8% - 6.3%
6.4% - 7.5%
7.6% - 8.5%
8.6% - 10.4%
10.5% - 13.6%
US Value: 9.2%
Top State(s): North Dakota: 3.8%
Bottom State(s): Texas: 13.6%
Definition: Percentage of adults age 60 and older who lack access to enough food for an active and healthy life due to limited financial resources
Data Source and Years(s): Feeding America, Food Insecurity Among Seniors and Older Adults Report Series, 2023
Suggested Citation: America's Health Rankings analysis of Feeding America, Food Insecurity Among Seniors and Older Adults Report Series, United Health Foundation, AmericasHealthRankings.org, accessed 2026.
Food insecurity is an economic and social condition involving limited or uncertain regular access to food. It differs from hunger in that hunger is a physiological feeling. Many older adults face barriers to food access, such as affordability, limited reliable transportation and health constraints. An estimated 7.4 million adults age 60 and older experienced food insecurity in 2023.
Food-insecure older adults have significantly reduced intakes of vital nutrients and a higher prevalence of health problems such as heart attack, congestive heart failure, asthma and depression. A recent study suggests a strong link between food insecurity and lower cognitive function in older adults.
Managing chronic diseases can be more challenging when living with food insecurity — poor nutrition negatively impacts overall health, and those who have difficulty affording food are also likely to have difficulty affording health care. Older adults with chronic conditions who experience food insecurity have higher health care costs compared with those who have the same conditions but are not food insecure. A 2019 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that adults experiencing food insecurity spent an average of $1,834 more on annual health expenditures than food-secure adults.
According to a 2024 report from Feeding America, the prevalence of food insecurity is higher among:
Additional research found that food insecurity was also higher among:
Rates of food insecurity among those age 60 and older vary by state, with higher rates found in Southern states.
Many multidisciplinary programs are working to reduce food insecurity among older adults:
Reducing overall household food insecurity is a Healthy People 2030 leading health indicator.
Aday, Ronald H., J. Brandon Wallace, Sandra C. Jones, Amber R. Pogacsnik, Kimberly F. Leifker, and Eva W. Kibe-Pea. “Understanding the Experiences of Food Insecurity in Older Adult Households.” Journal of Gerontological Social Work 66, no. 2 (February 17, 2023): 239–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2022.2098443.
Berkowitz, Seth A., Sanjay Basu, Craig Gundersen, and Hilary K. Seligman. “State-Level and County-Level Estimates of Health Care Costs Associated with Food Insecurity.” Preventing Chronic Disease 16 (July 11, 2019): 180549. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd16.180549.
Dhakal, Usha, Khalil El Asmar, and Carlos F. Mendes deLeon. “Food Insecurity, Food Assistance, and Physical and Cognitive Functioning Among Older Americans.” Edited by António Raposo. PLoS One 20, no. 12 (December 31, 2025): e0339720. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0339720.
Dewey, Adam, Julie Hilvers, Sena Dawes, Virginia Harris, Monica Hake, and Emily Engelhard. Map the Meal Gap: A Report of Local Food Insecurity and Food Costs in the United States in 2023. Feeding America National Organization, May 2025. https://www.feedingamerica.org/research/map-the-meal-gap/overall-executive-summary.
Feeding America. Spotlight on Senior Health: Adverse Health Outcomes of Food Insecure Older Americans. Executive Summary, 2014. https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/research/senior-hunger-research/or-spotlight-on-senior-health-executive-summary.pdf.
Garcia, Sandra P., Anne Haddix, and Kevin Barnett. “Incremental Health Care Costs Associated With Food Insecurity and Chronic Conditions Among Older Adults.” Preventing Chronic Disease 15 (August 30, 2018): 180058. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd15.180058.
Hake, Monica, and Sena Dawes. Food Insecurity Among Seniors and Older Adults in 2022. Feeding America, July 2024. https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2024-07/Food%20Insecurity%20Among%20Seniors%20and%20Older%20Adults%20in%202022.pdf.
Lee, Jung Sun, and Edward A. Frongillo Jr. “Nutritional and Health Consequences Are Associated with Food Insecurity among U.S. Elderly Persons.” The Journal of Nutrition 131, no. 5 (May 1, 2001): 1503–9. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/131.5.1503.
Leung, Cindy, Preeti Malani, Dianne Singer, Matthias Kirch, Erica Solway, Jeffrey Kullgren, and Julia Wolfson. “How Food Insecurity Affects Older Adults.” National Poll on Healthy Aging May 2020 (May 11, 2020). http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/155333.
Rabbit, Matthew P., Madeline Reed-Jones, Laura Hales, Shellye Suttles, and Michael P. Burke. Household Food Security in the United States in 2024. Economic Research Report, Number 358. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, December 2025. https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/publications/113623/ERR-358.pdf?v=26686.
Tucher, Emma L., Tamra Keeney, Alicia J. Cohen, and Kali S. Thomas. “Conceptualizing Food Insecurity Among Older Adults: Development of a Summary Indicator in the National Health and Aging Trends Study.” Edited by Deborah S. Carr. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B 76, no. 10 (November 15, 2021): 2063–72.https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa147.
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