Measuring food insecurity and hunger in the United States: Development of a national benchmark measure and prevalence estimates

Since 1992, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service ( FNS) has led a collaborative effort to develop a comprehensive benchmark me asure of the severity and prevalence of food insecurity and hunger in the U nited States. Based on prior research and wide consultation, a survey instr ument specifically relevant to U.S. conditions was designed and tested. Thr ough its Current Population Survey (CPS), the U.S. Bureau of the Census has fielded this instrument each year since 1995. A measurement scale was deri ved from the data through fitting, testing and validating a Rasch scale. Th e unidimensional Rasch model corresponds to the form of the phenomenon bein g measured, i.e., the severity of food insufficiency due to inadequate reso urces as directly experienced and reported in U.S. households. A categorica l measure reflecting designated ranges of severity on the scale was constru cted for consistent comparison of prevalence estimates over time and across population groups. The technical basis and initial results of the new meas ure were reported in September 1997. For the 12 months ending April 1995, a n estimated 11.9% of U.S. households (35 million persons) were food insecur e. Among these, 4.1% of households (with 6.9 million adults and 4.3 million children) showed a recurring pattern of hunger due to inadequate resources for one or more of their adult and/or child members sometime during the pe riod. The new measure has been incorporated into other federal surveys and is being used by researchers throughout the U.S. and Canada.