Access to Healthy Foods and Diet Quality: Implications for Advancing Equity in Kidney Health Outcomes

Socioeconomic, environmental, and lifestyle factors shape kidney health. Among the social determinants of health, access to healthy foods is particularly significant. As a basic need, food is integral to an individual's identity, culture, and health. Dietary patterns have been shown to be strongly related to developing kidney disease, its progression, and its complications. Efforts to make more healthful the dietary patterns of people with or at risk of kidney disease, including those facing adverse social determinants of health, have emerged in recent years. In this review, we discuss evidence reported over the past decade underscoring linkages between access to healthy foods, diet quality, and the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities observed in kidney health. We examine the complex factors influencing diet quality, with a focus on food and nutrition insecurity, and their disproportionate impact on communities with greater kidney disease burden. Finally, we propose strategies that can improve diet quality for all people living with or at risk of kidney disease.