A study of mental-health and food bank use in the UK using propensity score matching

Mental health in the United Kingdom is declining, whilst food bank use is increasing. This study uses data from the UK Household Longitudinal Survey (2009-2024) to examine associations between food bank use and mental health, measured by the General Health Questionnaire for which responses were on a 4-point scale and reverse-scored with potential scores of 0-36, with higher scores representing more favourable mental health. Propensity matching on demographic factors (gender; age; education level; income; employment status; marital status; number of children; UK region) was employed to compare mental health between households that used foodbanks, those not using food banks and those who were unable to access a food bank. Results indicated that people who used food banks had significantly lower mental health than those who did not. A novel finding was that people who sought but could not access food banks had even lower mental health than those who had accessed food banks. This implies that attending a food bank may be beneficial to mental health. policies and interventions that improve access to food banks could assist users in achieving better mental health and in meeting the United Nations (2012) Sustainable Development Goals related to food provision and mental health. • Mental health declining and food bank use increasing in UK (59 characters) • Results indicated food bank users had poorer mental health than wider population (81 characters) • Those unable to access food banks had poorer mental health than food bank users (79 characters) • Food banks are beneficial to mental health (44 characters) • Policies needed to support food banks in boosting mental health (65 characters)