10.2%

of all households in 2021 experienced food insecurity (1)

12.5%

of child-rearing households in 2021 experienced food insecurity (1)

1 in 6

children might be food insecure throughout the US (2)

1 in 3

people who are experiencing food insecurity might not qualify for food program assistance (2)

Definitions, Contributors, & Characteristics

Definitions

Food insecurity, in general, is defined as "a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life.” (para 1) (3)

Low food security, also known as high food insecurity, is defined as “reports of reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet. Little or no indication of reduced food intake.” (para 4) (4)

Very low food security, also known as very high food insecurity, is defined as “reports of multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.” (para 5) (4)

Contributors

Many situations and circumstances can contribute to experiencing food insecurity. Some common scenarios that may contribute to food insecurity are:

Unemployment (3)
Living at or below poverty wages or living on otherwise low wages (3)
Being unable to access affordable housing (3)
Experiencing health and medical problems (3)
Societal inequities and injustices such as discrimination (3)

Characteristics

Individuals who are food insecure may experience the following:

They are worried about their food supply diminishing quickly (4)
The food they purchase runs out quickly (4)
They do not have enough money to make meals that are nutritious (4)
They sometimes have to reduce portions of meals or skip entire meals based on the food they have (4)
They experience being hungry without eating in response to that hunger (4)
They sometimes lose weight because they cannot afford enough food (4)
They sometimes cannot afford to eat any meals for an entire day (4)

Physical

Food insecurity can result in serious negative physical impacts, including, but not limited to:

Experiencing a variety of adverse health outcomes (3)
Increased chances of being hospitalized and having health that is deemed poor (among children) (5)
Increased chances of experiencing a chronic health condition, such as “hypertension, coronary heart disease (CHD), hepatitis, stroke, cancer, asthma, diabetes, arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and kidney disease.” (para 4) (6)
Demonstrating signs of diabetes and hypertension (7)
Experiencing poor sleep and having sleep complaints (8)

Psychological

Food insecurity can also result in negative psychological impacts, including, but not limited to:

Creating this or that scenarios where people are forced to choose between basic needs (3)
Experiencing suicidal ideations for those who were food insecure as children (9)
Increased chances of experiencing depression (10)
Higher chances of experiencing stress (10)
Higher chances of experiencing anxiety (10)

Impacts of Food Insecurity

Food Insecurity & Race

Food insecurity can impact any individual who identifies with any race. Below are statistics on how food insecurity affects different racial categories.

24% of those who identified as African American were food insecure in 2020 (2)
In the same year, about 19% of people who identified as Latinx were food insecure (2)
Seniors who identified as Latinx or African American experienced higher rates of food insecurity (11)
For those who identified as Caucasian, about 7% were food insecure in 2020 (2)
For those who identified as Asian American, about 6% were food insecure from 2016 to 2020 (2)
For those who identified as Pacific Islander, about 19% were food insecure from 2016 to 2020 (2)
For those who identified as Native American, about 22% were food insecure from 2016 to 2020 (2)

Food Insecurity & Children

Food insecurity can affect children of any age.

High food insecurity in childhood can be a stressor for children (9)
Food insecurity can have negative impacts on children and their ability to thrive and learn (3)
Teenagers who are food insecure tend to try to make sure nobody knows they are food insecure; they tend to purposely not use food programs or organizations that provide food services in public places (12)
Teenagers who are food insecure often feel embarrassed to admit so (12)
Food insecure teenagers find strategic ways to receive and eat food, such as eating food outside of the home (12)
Teenagers sometimes believe they do not have access to other food programs because of their age (12)

Food Insecurity & College Students

Food insecurity also impacts college students.

According to a survey, 45% of the overall sample of college students reported experiencing food insecurity in the last month (13)
In this survey, they found that, of their sample, a little less than 50% of the students did not have enough money to buy or cook nutritious meals (13)
In this survey, 51% of 2 year college students and 44% of 4 year college students were concerned about not having enough food to last them until they had more money (13)
College students at at risk for being food insecure because: of financial instability, the cost of college and college living expenses have risen, it has become more difficult to pay for college on a minimum wage, and it is harder to find flexible full-time jobs that account for class schedules (14)
The lack of knowledge regarding the availability of food-related services and programs can also become a barrier for students (15)
Food insecurity can negatively impact academics of students (14)

Food Insecurity & Seniors

Moreover, food insecurity affects the senior community.

Just over 5 million older folks in the US experienced food insecurity in 2020 (11)
Food insecurity experienced among seniors has risen by 29% since 2001 (11)
Seniors who had less money or rented their housing unit also experienced higher rates of food insecurity (11)
Food-related services may be inaccessible to seniors who live in rural areas (16)
They may also face challenges with transportation to access food, as groceries stores may be a long distance away (16)

Food Insecurity & COVID-19

30%

of households were food insecure in the beginning of 2021 (17)

43%

of children-rearing households experienced food insecurity in the first quarter of 2021 (17)

Food insecurity was impacted by COVID-19 as well.

In one sample, child-rearing households, individuals experiencing unemployment, and individuals with less money had an increased chance of being food insecure (18)
In the same sample mentioned above, 17% of people reported struggling to afford meals that were nutritional (18)
That percentage was raised to just over 19% for individuals who resided in child-rearing households (18)
Nearly 11% of their sample reported that they were forced to skip entire meals or eat smaller amounts of food because they did not have enough money to buy enough food (18)
That percentage was raised to nearly 14% for individuals who resided in child-rearing households (18)
Food insecurity also increased among children during COVID-19 (19)
There was an attempt to provide children with meals through meal programs due to school closures, but, overall, less meals were received by children during this time because: children weren’t going to school in-person and some families were worried about catching COVID-19 while engaging in in-person meal pick up, and so they didn’t go get the meals (20)

Sources

(1) U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2022, September 7). Key statistics & graphics. Economic Research Service: U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-u-s/key-statistics-graphics/

(2) Hake, M., Engelhard, E., & Dewey, A. (2022). Map the meal gap 2022: A report on county and congressional district food insecurity and county food cost in the United States in 2020. Feeding America. https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/Map%20the%20Meal%20Gap%202022%20Report_0.pdf

(3) Feeding America. (n.d.). Hunger and food insecurity. https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/food-insecurity

(4) U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2022, September 7). Definitions of food security. Economic Research Service: U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-u-s/definitions-of-food-security/

(5) Cook, J. T., Frank, D. A., Levenson, S. M., Neault, N. B., Heeren, T. C., Black, M. M., Berkowitz, C., Casey, P. H., Meyers, A. F., Cutts, D. B., & Chilton, M. (2006). Child food insecurity increases risks posed by household food insecurity to young children’s health. The Journal of Nutrition, 136(4), 1073-1076. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/136.4.1073

(6) Gregory, C. A., & Coleman-Jensen, A. (2017). Food insecurity, chronic disease, and health among working-age adults [Summary of report]. United States Department of Agriculture: Economic Research Service. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/84467/err-235_summary.pdf?v=2983.5

(7) Seligman, H. K., Laraia, B. A., & Kushel, M. B. (2010). Food insecurity is associated with chronic disease among low-income NHANES participants. The Journal of Nutrition, 140(2), 304-310. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.109.112573

(8) Ding, M., Keiley, M. K., Garza, K. B., Duffy, P. A., & Zizza, C. A. (2015). Food insecurity is associated with poor sleep outcomes among us adults. The Journal of Nutrition, 145(3), 615-621. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.114.199919

(9) McIntyre, L., Williams, J. V. A., Lavorato, D. H., & Patten, S. (2013). Depression and suicide ideation in late adolescence and early adulthood are an outcome of child hunger. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150(1), 123-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.11.029

(10) Pourmotabbed, A., Moradi, S., Babaei, A., Ghavami, A., Mohammadi, H., Jalili, C., Symonds, M. E., & Miraghajani, M. (2020). Food insecurity and mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Public Health Nutrition, 23(10), 1778-1790. https://doi.org/10.1017/S136898001900435X

(11) Ziliak, J. P., & Gundersen, C. (2022). The state of senior hunger in 2020. Feeding America. https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2022-05/The%20State%20of%20Senior%20Hunger%20in%202020_Full%20Report%20w%20Cover.pdf

(12) Waxman, E., Popkin, S. J., & Galvez, M. (2015). Bringing teens to the table: A focus on food insecurity in America. Feeding America. https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/research/teen-hunger-research/bringing-teens-to-the-table.pdf

(13) Goldrick-Rab, S., Baker-Smith, C., Coca, V., Looker, E., & Williams, T. (2019). College and university basic needs insecurity: A national #realcollege survey report. The Hope Center. https://tacc.org/sites/default/files/documents/2019-04/hope_realcollege_report.pdf

(14) Freudenberg, N., Goldrick-Rab, S., & Poppendieck, J. (2019). College students and SNAP: The new face of food insecurity in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 109(12), 1652-1658. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305332

(15) Landry, M. J., Gundersen, C., & Eicher-Miller, H. A. (2022). Food insecurity on college and university campuses: A context and rationale for solutions. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 122(3), 519-524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2021.10.021

(16) U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2019). Older Americans Act: HHS could help rural service providers by centralizing information on promising practices. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-330

(17) Acciai, F., McCarthy, A. C., Harper, K., Josephson, A., Belarmino, E. H., Niles, M. T., Bertmann, F., Biehl, E., DeWeese, R., Martinelli, S., Neff, R., & Ohri-Vachaspati, P. (2021). Food insecurity and food assistance program participation in the u.s.: One year into the COVID-19 pandemic [Policy brief]. National Food Access and COVID Research Team. https://keep.lib.asu.edu/items/160694/view

(18) Parekh, N., Ali, S. H., O’Connor, J., Tozan, Y., Jones, A. M., Capasso, A., Foreman, J., & DiClemente, R. J. (2021). Food insecurity among households with children during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from a study among social media users across the United States. Nutritional Journal, 20(73). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-021-00732-2

(19) Bleich, S., Cohen, J., Sommers, B., & Allen, J. (2020, October 28). Why partisan politics keeps 14 million hungry children from getting the food they need. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/10/28/how-politics-keeps-14-million-american-kids-getting-enough-food-column/6051427002/

(20) United States Government Accountability Office. (2021). COVID-19: Sustained federal action is crucial as pandemic enters its second year. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-387.pdf