Children's HealthWatch

Household and Child Food Insecurity

In times of rising food prices, low-income families find it ever more challenging to provide enough nutritious food for their families. 
 

Definition of Food Security
Food security is defined as access by all household members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.  Food insecurity, by contrast, is limited or uncertain access to enough nutritious food for all household members to lead an active and healthy life.  Frontline public health workers and advocates often refer to this condition as hunger. 

Measurement of Food Security
Food security in the United States is measured by the U.S. Food Security Scale (FSS) consisting of 18 questions.  There are various levels of food security – food secure (which includes households that have both high food security and marginal food security), low food security, and very low food security (previously known as food secure, food insecure, and food insecure with hunger). In addition, a Child Food Security Scale has been validated by USDA. The Child Food Security Scale measures household food security with an 18-question survey that can identify a more severe level of deprivation than is detected by the household-level measure alone. A household’s food security status is determined by the number of questions it answers affirmatively.

Child Food Insecurity
Thus the most severe levels of food insecurity involve child food insecurity, which occurs when children’s caregivers are no longer able to buffer their children from the effects of reduced food resources.  At extreme levels of child food insecurity, caregivers are forced to cut the size of their children’s meals, or the children skip meals entirely, and at the most severe level, even going whole days without food.  In 2008, 49.1 million people in the United States were food insecure; 16.7 million of these are children.  In the Children’s HealthWatch sample of children under 3 years old, 20.8% of children live in food insecure households and 11.1% are child food insecure.   

Children’s HealthWatch Research and Food Insecurity
Children’s HealthWatch uses the full 18-question FSS in our interviews.  One of our co-principal investigators, Dr. John T. Cook, was a member of the team that developed the original food security scale.  Children’s HealthWatch has conducted extensive research showing the harmful effects that food insecurity can have on a child’s health, development and well-being. 

Marginal Food Security
[add the stuff from John’s brief here…particularly re: definition and sentences describing how effects are very similar to HFI; don’t necessarily need to spell out all findings… could just link back to findings here]

According to the US Census Bureau of children under age three there are 1.5 million (12.8%) who are marginally food secure.

Food Insecurity Harms Young Children’s Health and Development
Compared to young children in food secure households, infants and toddlers in food insecure households are:

• 30% more likely to have a history of hospitalization
• 90% more likely to be reported in fair or poor health
• Nearly twice as likely to have iron deficiency anemia
• Two-thirds more likely to be at risk for developmental delays
  

Child Food Insecurity Intensifies the Harmful Effects of Household Food Insecurity
Compared to infants and toddlers in food insecure households, infants and toddlers in households with both household and child food insecurity had significantly higher odds of having a history of hospitalization and of being reported in fair or poor health.

Below, you can find resources on our research:

Click here to view Children's HealthWatch experts on this topic

Click here to read our publications

Click here to read about our Research and Policy Priorities

Click here to return to Children's HealthWatch topics