# Cost-Effectiveness of Food is Medicine Interventions to Improve Diet and Reduce Cardiometabolic Diseases

> **NIH NIH R01** · TUFTS UNIVERSITY BOSTON · 2024 · $778,531

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
In the previous period, we have used national and state microsimulation modeling, cost-effectiveness analysis,
legal and policy analyses, and real-choice experiments to elucidate the health, equity, and cost impacts of
specific nutrition-related policies for reducing cardiometabolic diseases (CMD). Our work has identified among
the most promising interventions to be Food is Medicine (FIM) strategies: incorporation of food-based
nutritional interventions into healthcare to improve food and nutrition security, treat disease, and reduce health
disparities. Such programs include medically tailored meals or produce prescriptions for patients with specific
disease conditions, complemented by nutrition and culinary education, and often focused on populations with
adverse social determinants of health (SDOH) from low-income or racial/ethnic minority backgrounds. Yet,
critical questions remain, each identified and crystalized by our findings and interactions in the prior project
period with key stakeholders such as healthcare sector leaders; government officials; patients, doctors, and
other care providers; and FIM non-profit providers and private sector entrepreneurs. This new project will
leverage the deep learnings and networks established in our prior project period to address the following
critical aims: 1) to estimate the health, equity, and cost impacts of varying FIM program design options,
including key elements of dose ($/mo), food groups, duration, and disease targets; 2) to assess intersections of
FIM with other levels of healthcare interventions including (a) coordinated food insecurity screening and SNAP
enrollment, and (b) new clinical drug treatments; 3) to investigate the administrative and legal feasibility of
pathways for scaling FIM; and 4) to disseminate top findings to relevant scientific, healthcare, legislative,
agency, and advocacy stakeholders. To achieve these aims, we will leverage our prior work on the etiologic
effects of dietary changes and our validated national microsimulation model to estimate CMD benefits, costs,
and cost-effectiveness, and further develop and validate our model to incorporate (a) food insecurity as a risk
for health and cost outcomes, (b) the additional, non-CMD QALYs and costs of BMI as a risk; and (c) the
health and cost effects of novel drug treatments (e.g., GLP-1 agonists). Effects on health disparities will be
estimated using both difference-in-difference measures and semi-quantitative measures of disparity. We will
perform new landscape, stakeholder, and legal analyses of (a) reimbursement coverage of FIM in Medicare
and Medicaid; (b) integration of FIM into rapidly accelerating SDOH modules in EMR and clinical care
pathways; and (c) pathways to align consumer education and communication, like SNAP-Ed and FDA food
labeling, with a FIM approach. This will include qualitative research into legal authorities and limitations; and
research among key stakeholders (e.g. patients...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10982048
- **Project number:** 2R01HL115189-10
- **Recipient organization:** TUFTS UNIVERSITY BOSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** DARIUSH MOZAFFARIAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $778,531
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2013-08-15 → 2028-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10982048

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10982048, Cost-Effectiveness of Food is Medicine Interventions to Improve Diet and Reduce Cardiometabolic Diseases (2R01HL115189-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10982048. Licensed CC0.

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