Frequency and duration of food insecurity and hunger in US households.
OBJECTIVE
This study examines the extent to which food insecurity and hunger in US households are occasional, recurring, or frequent/chronic. Design/Variables: The federal food security scale measures the severity of food insecurity in surveyed households and classifies households as to their food security status during the previous year. The Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (CPS-FSS) collects the data elements used to calculate the food security scale. Supplementary data on the frequency of occurrence of the behaviors and experiences comprising the food security scale are also collected by the CPS-FSS, but most of this information is not included in the food security scale. This study analyzes these supplementary data along with the food security scale and its constituent items using data from the Food Security Supplement of the nationally representative CPS conducted in August 1998.


RESULTS
About two thirds of households classified as food insecure by the federal food security scale experience the condition as recurring, and around one fifth experience these conditions as frequent or chronic. The monthly prevalence of hunger is about 60% of the annual prevalence, and the daily prevalence is about 13% to 18% of the annual prevalence.


CONCLUSIONS
Nutritionists can use these findings to enhance the informative value of food insecurity and hunger statistics from national, state, and local surveys when interpreting them to policy makers and to the general public.
Nord
Mark
M
Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20036-5831, USA.
Andrews
Margaret
M
Winicki
Joshua
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D012008:Recurrence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States