American Heart Association volunteer expert, Mercedes Carnethon, Ph.D., FAHA, Mary Harris Thompson professor and Vice Chair, Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois. Offering perspective on AHA Scientific Sessions 2020 Presentation 239 copyright American Heart Association 2020 "One thing we realize is that as clinicians interact with patients, as critical as it is to take a medical history, it's equally critical to capture one's social history. And I think what's highlighted very well in this abstract is the importance and the relevance of food insecurity for cardiovascular disease risks. So just as a clinician would ask, "Are you currently smoking?" It's equally important to find ways to ask patients whether or not they have access to the types of foods that they need, whether or not they can afford the foods that we know will help protect and promote ideal cardiovascular health. And so I do believe that this is, provides critical evidence that it is worth expanding the set of socioeconomic indicators to include questions about food insecurity and to include those questions in a way that doesn't embarrass the patient or lead them to hide the fact that they are struggling to feed themselves and their families. But by simply asking the questions in a nonjudgmental way as part of a comprehensive social history, it provides the clinician with a little bit of the context and backdrop in which other recommendations for promoting health are being made. Because, you know, if a patient has high blood pressure that's putting them at risk for stroke, chronic kidney disease and heart attack. To make a recommendation that they reduce sodium in their diets and eat more fresh fruits, is not gonna be well received and is not gonna be possible for that patient who is experiencing food insecurity. So again, it's critically important to include as many factors as possible in taking a social history."