Household Food Security
Community Food Security
Household Food Security: Statistical
Reports
Household Food Security in the United States, 2006—Eighty-nine percent of American households were food secure throughout the entire year in 2006; 10.9 percent were food-insecure at some time during the year; and 4.0 percent had very low food security. Prevalence rates of food insecurity and very low food security were essentially unchanged from 2005 (11.0 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively). This report, based on data from the December 2006 food security survey, provides the most recent statistics on the food security of U.S. households as well as on how much they spent for food and the extent to which food-insecure households participated in Federal and community food assistance programs.
Earlier annual reports in this series: 
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2005
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2004
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2003
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2002
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2001
Household Food Security
in the United States, 2000
Household Food Security
in the United States, 1999
Household Food Security
in the United States, 1998 and 1999: Detailed Statistical
Report
Household Food Security
in the United States, 1995-1998: Advance Report
Household
Food Security in the United States in 1995: Summary Report
of the Food Security Measurement Project—Describes
the development of the U.S. Household Food Security Scale
and provides the first national assessment of household
food security in the United States.
Prevalence of Food Insecurity
and Hunger, by State, 1996-1998—USDA's baseline
report on food security prevalence rates by State. Averaged
over 3 years, the prevalence of food insecurity exceeded
the national average rate in 11 States and the District
of Columbia, was below the national average in 20 States,
and was at or near the national average in the remaining
19 States.
Household Food Security: Technical
Information and Survey Tools
Does Interview Mode Matter for Food Security Measurement? Telephone versus In-Person Interviews in the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement—This article in Public Health Nutrition demonstrates that telephone and in-person food security interviews in the Current Population Survey are comparable with small, or at most modest, differences. Nord, Mark and Heather Hopwood, 2007. "Does Interview Mode Matter for Food Security Measurement? Telephone versus In-Person Interviews in the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement," Public Health Nutrition, doi: 10.1017/S1368980007000857, published online August 9, 2007.
Food
Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment
of the Measure—This assessment of USDA's measurement
of food insecurity is the product of an extensive review
by an independent panel of experts convened by the National
Research Council's Committee on National Statistics. USDA
requested the review to ensure that USDA's data collection
and methodology in the areas of food security and hunger
are relevant and scientifically sound.
Food Security of Older Children Can Be Assessed by Using
a Standardized Survey Instrument—An article in
The Journal of Nutrition describes the development
and assessment of a food security survey module adapted
for self-administration by children age 12 and older:
Connell, Carol L., Mark Nord, Kristi L. Lofton, and Kathy
Yadrick. 2004. "Food Security of Older Children Can
Be Assessed Using a Standardized Survey Instrument,"
The Journal of Nutrition, 134:2566-72.
The questions were adapted from the U.S. Household Food
Security Survey Module, refined through focus groups and
cognitive interviews, and tested in a pilot survey. The
abstract is available from the American Society for Nutrition.
The questionnaire
is available on this site.
A 30-Day Food Security
Scale for Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement
Data—This report describes and assesses a 30-day
household food security scale that can be applied specifically
to the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement
(CPS-FSS) data collected between 1995 and 2004. The report
specifies procedures for calculating the revised 30-day
scale from CPS-FSS data and classifying households as
to 30-day food security status. Beginning in 2005, a full
range 30-day scale, including all the items in the 12-month
scale is available in the CPS-FSS, largely obviating the
need for the older, more specialized scale.
Spanish
Translation of the Food Security Survey Module—A
Spanish translation of the U.S. Household Food Security
Survey Module developed by UCLA researchers is available
from the Journal of Nutrition, the American Society
for Nutrition. This work was funded through a grant from
ERS' Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, and
ERS recommends this translation for use among Spanish-
speaking populations within the United States. The Journal
has made the entire article, "Development
of a Spanish-Language Version of the U.S. Household Food
Security Survey Module," including the Spanish-language
module and a description of its development and testing,
publicly available at no cost from their website.
Guide
to Measuring Household Food Security, Revised 2000
(PDF, 189K)—Provides detailed guidance for researchers
on how to use the U.S. Household Food Security Survey
Module to measure household food security and food insecurity
at various levels of severity. Statistics from surveys
that use these methods will be directly comparable with
published national statistics. Published by USDA's Food
and Nutrition Service. 
Measuring Children's
Food Security in U.S. Households, 1995-99—This
report describes the Children's Food Security Scale developed
by USDA and presents statistics on the prevalence of hunger
among children in U.S. households for the years 1995-99.
Prevalence estimates, based on the nationally representative
Current Population Survey Food Security Supplements, are
presented for all U.S. households with children and for
subgroups defined by household structure, race and ethnicity,
income, and rural/urban residence. The report provides
detailed information on how to implement the scale in
other surveys.
Household Food Security
in the United States, 1998 and 1999: Technical Report—This
report explores key technical issues related to Current
Population Survey Food Security Supplement data, focusing
especially on the August 1998 and April 1999 surveys.
These technical issues include the estimation of standard
errors, the effect of alternating survey periods between
spring and fall for the 1995-99 CPS Supplement, and the
effect of using different Item Response Theory (IRT) modeling
approaches and software to create the food security scale.
Second Food Security
Measurement and Research Conference, Volume I: Proceedings
and Volume II: Papers—This
two-volume set documents the Second Food Security Measurement
and Research Conference held on February 23-24, 1999.
Volume I contains
abbreviated proceedings of all presentations. Volume
II contains a set of research papers that conference
participants prepared to provide further detail on the
findings of the research presented at the conference.
The conference, cosponsored by USDA's Economic Research
Service and Food and Nutrition Service and the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services' National Center for Health
Statistics, was part of an ongoing program of Federal
food security research, the goal of which has been to
establish a stable measurement strategy to monitor the
food security status of the U.S. population.
Household
Food Security in the United States, 1995-1997: Technical
Issues and Statistical Report and Executive
Summary—This report examines the stability of
the food security measurement scale over time and across
different types of households, the thresholds used to
classify households as to their food security status,
screening issues related to ensuring comparability of
food security statistics among the 1995-97 CPS food security
supplements, and alternative imputation strategies for
dealing with missing data.
Household
Food Security in the United States in 1995: Technical
Report of the Food Security Measurement Project—Describes
the analysis through which the food security scales and
food security status variable were developed, as well
as related tests of the reliability and validity of these
measures. Published by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service.
Household Food Security: Other
Articles and Research Reports
Measuring Children’s Food Security—This article in the Journal of Nutrition describes the development of, and recent improvements in, methods for measuring children’s food security. Nord, Mark and Heather Hopwood, 2007. "Recent Advances Provide Improved Tools for Measuring Children's Food Security," Journal of Nutrition, 137:533-36.
Struggling to Feed the Family: What Does it Mean to Be Food Insecure?—This article in Amber Waves describes hardships that some households face in meeting their food needs and how food insecurity relates to income and other household characteristics, State economic conditions, and State policies.
Characteristics of Low-Income Households With Very Low Food Security: An Analysis of the USDA GPRA Food Security Indicator—This Economic Information Bulletin describes characteristics of low-income households that had very low food security in 2005. The U.S. Department of Agriculture monitors the food security of low-income households to assess how effectively the Government’s domestic nutrition assistance programs meet the needs of their target populations. USDA seeks to reduce the prevalence of very low food security among low-income households as part of its strategic plan under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).
What Factors Account for
State-to-State Differences in Food Security?—This
ERS Economic Information Bulletin describes State-level
and household-level factors associated with State prevalence
rates of food insecurity. Taken together, these measurable
factors account for most of the inter-state differences
in food insecurity.
Seasonal Variation in Food Insecurity Is Associated with
Heating and Cooling Costs among Low-Income Elderly Americans—An
article in The Journal of Nutrition
examines the association between household food insecurity
and seasonally high heating and cooling costs. Low-income
households, especially those consisting entirely of elderly
persons, experienced substantial seasonal differences
in the incidence of very low food security (the more severe
range of food insecurity) in areas with high winter heating
costs and high summer cooling costs. In high-heating states,
the pattern was reversed for such households. Nord, Mark
and Linda S. Kantor. 2006. "Seasonal Variation in
Food Insecurity is Associated with Heating and Cooling
Costs among Low-Income Elderly Americans," The
Journal of Nutrition, 136: 2939-2944.
Hunger in the Summer: Seasonal Food Insecurity and the
National School Lunch and Summer Food Service Programs—An
article in Journal of Children and Poverty examines
the effects of summertime meals provided by the National
School Lunch and Summer Food Service programs on household
food insecurity. Seasonal differences—higher prevalence
of food insecurity in the summer—were greater for
households with school-age children than for other households.
Among households with school-age children, seasonal differences
were greater in States providing fewer Summer Food Service
Program meals and summertime school lunches than in other
States. Nord, Mark and Kathleen Romig. 2006. "Hunger
in the Summer: Seasonal Food Insecurity and the National
School Lunch and Summer Food Service Programs," Journal
of Children and Poverty 12(2): 141-158.
State-Level Predictors
of Food Insecurity and Hunger Among Households With Children—This
ERS-funded research project examined household- and State-level
factors associated with interstate differences in the
food security of households with children. Almost all
of the observed interstate differences in food security
can be explained by cross-State differences in measurable
demographic and contextual characteristics.
Explaining
Variations in State Hunger Rates—This article
in Family Economics and Nutrition Review examines
the effects of State-level economic and demographic characteristics
on State-level prevalence rates of food insecurity and
food insecurity with hunger. A small number of State-level
factors, including high costs of housing, seasonally high
unemployment, high poverty rates, high residential mobility,
and a high proportion of children in the State population,
explains most of the State-to-State differences in food
insecurity.
Dynamics of Poverty
and Food Sufficiency—This study examines dynamics
in poverty and food insufficiency using longitudinal data
from the 1993 panel of the Survey of Income and Program
Participation (SIPP) and the follow-on Survey of Program
Dynamics (SPD). The study uses these data to characterize
the incidence and dynamics of poverty and food problems
for the entire U.S. population and for different subgroups.
Measuring
the Food Security of Elderly Persons—This article
in Family Economics and Nutrition Review assesses
the appropriateness of the U.S. Food Security Scale for
measuring the food security of elderly people, particularly
whether measured prevalence rates for the elderly are
likely to be biased relative to those of the nonelderly.
The findings, based on analysis of 3 years of data from
the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement,
indicate that the Food Security Scale fairly represents
the food security status of the elderly compared with
that of the nonelderly.
Food Assistance
Research Brief: Food Insecurity in Households With Children—This
brief examines the extent to which the diets and eating
patterns of American children are disrupted because their
families cannot always afford enough food.
Putting
Food on the Table: Household Food Security in the United
States—This article in the February issue of
Amber Waves describes the prevalence of food
security and food insecurity in U.S. households in 2001
and trends in these statistics since 1995.
Hunger:
Its Impact on Children’s Health and Mental Health—Hunger,
with its adverse consequences for children, continues
to be a problem in the United States. This study examines
the independent contribution of child hunger on children's
physical and mental health and academic functioning after
controlling for a range of environmental, maternal, and
other factors that are associated with poor health among
children. Using standardized tools, comprehensive demographic,
psychosocial, and health data were collected in Worcester,
MA, from homeless mothers and their children and for housed
low-income mothers and their children.
Frequency
and Duration of Food Insecurity and Hunger in U.S. Households—This
is the first nationally representative study of the extent
to which food insecurity is frequent, recurring, or occasional
in U.S. households.
Food Insecurity in
Higher Income Households—Twenty percent of U.S.
households classified as food insecure had midrange or
high incomes, according to responses to the 1995-97 Current
Population Survey. This study investigates the extent
to which these households were food insecure and what
proportion may have been incorrectly identified as food
insecure because of problems in the measurement methods.
The study finds that a small proportion, at most, of measured
food insecurity among middle- and high-income households
appears to be due to misunderstanding of questions or
erratic responses. Some households in these income groups
are food insecure due to factors such as uneven incomes
or changes in household composition during the year or
to the existence of multiple economic units in the same
household.
Food
Security Rates Are High for Elderly Households—Households
that include elderly persons are generally more food secure
than other U.S. households. Rates of food insecurity and
hunger among households consisting entirely of elderly
people remained almost unchanged from 1995.
Reducing Food
Insecurity in the United States: Assessing Progress Toward
a National Objective—Assesses progress toward
the U.S. Government's Healthy People 2010 objective of
reducing the rate of food insecurity in the Nation to
half of its 1995 level by 2010.
Rates
of Food Insecurity and Hunger Unchanged in Rural Households—Compares
food security in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan households
in 2000 and describes trends in food security in nonmetropolitan
households from 1998 to 2000.
The Food
Stamp Program and Food Insufficiency—Food stamp
participants have higher food insufficiency rates than
eligible non-participants, even after controlling for
other factors. This study examines the extent to which
these higher rates are due to adverse selection—the
self selection of more food-needy households into the
Food Stamp Program. A simultaneous equation model with
two probits demonstrates that, with controls for adverse
selection, food stamp recipients have the same probability
of food insufficiency as nonrecipients.
Food
Stamp Participation and Food Security—This Food
Review article assesses whether the decline in Food
Stamp Program participation by low-income households in
the late 1990s was due in part to their having found it
more difficult or less socially acceptable to get food
stamps.
Household
Food Security in the Rural South: Assuring Access to Enough
Food for Healthy Lives—This policy brief, published
by the Southern Rural Development Center in the series
"The Rural South: Preparing for the Challenges of
the 21st Century," examines the prevalence of food
insecurity in households in the rural South in 1998 and
1999.
Prevalence
of Hunger Declines in Rural Households—Compares
food security in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan households
in 1998 and describes trends in food security in nonmetropolitan
households from 1995 to 1998.
New Indicator
Reveals Similar Levels of Food Security in Rural and Urban
Households, Rural Conditions and Trends—Compares
food security in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan households
in 1995.
Community Food Security: Articles
and Reports
Community Food Security
Assessment Toolkit—This report provides a toolkit
of standardized measurement tools for assessing various
aspects of community food security. It includes a general
guide to community assessment and materials for examining
six basic assessment components related to community food
security. These include guides for profiling general community
characteristics and community food resources as well as
materials for assessing household food security, food
resource accessibility, food availability and affordability,
and community food production resources.
Community
Food Security Programs Improve Food Access—This
article examines how community-based efforts, such as
farmers markets, food cooperatives, community-supported
agriculture, farm-to-school initiatives, and community
gardens, complement Federal food assistance programs.
|
