In this analysis, we use data from the Urban Institute’s Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS), fielded in December 2025, to estimate how household food insecurity varies by adults’ self-reported health status, disability, and select diagnosed chronic health conditions.
We find that adults who reported being in fair or poor health, having a disability, or having certain chronic conditions were significantly more likely to report food insecurity.
Why This Matters
This analysis highlights the importance of ensuring that policies to address food insecurity are informed by the heightened risk of unmet food needs among people with chronic conditions or disabilities. Looming safety net cuts could exacerbate food insecurity among these groups, with serious consequences for their health and well-being.
Key Takeaways
- Adults who reported fair or poor health experienced higher rates of food insecurity (43.5 percent) in 2025 than those who reported good health (25.6 percent) or very good or excellent health (13.9 percent). About a quarter of adults who reported fair or poor health reported very low food security, defined as a more severe condition of disrupted eating.
- Food insecurity among disabled adults was twice as high (41.8 percent) as the rate among adults without a disability (18.3 percent). Disabled adults were also almost three times as likely as those without a disability to report very low food insecurity.
Source: Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, December 2025.
Notes: Among adults ages 18 and older in last 12 months. The estimates at the top of each stacked bar represent the share of adults reporting food insecurity in the last 12 months.
*/**/*** Estimate differs significantly from reference group (^any disability) at the 0.10/0.05/0.01 level, using two-tailed tests.
- Most chronic health conditions we asked about on the survey were associated with a higher prevalence of food insecurity, compared with those without a diagnosed condition. Out of the nine chronic health conditions we asked about, seven (high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and arthritis) were associated with significantly elevated rates of food insecurity.
How We Did It
This analysis draws on data from the December 2025 round of the WBNS, a nationally representative, annual survey of adults that monitors individual and family well-being in the context of a changing safety net. More than 10,000 adults (ages 18 and older) participated.
We measured disability based on six questions drawn from the American Community Survey that ask about difficulties with hearing, vision, cognition, mobility, self-care, and independent living, plus a seventh question asking about difficulties with communication.
