Thursday, March 23, 2006

Food insecure without hunger includes affirmative responses to anxiety about having adequate money or food to feed the family and perceptions that the food eaten by adults or children was inadequate in quality or quantity. Cutting down on the size of the meal, eating less than you felt you should, not eating for a whole day and being hungry because there wasnt enough money for food are the most severe condition. The frequency of occurrence of these conditions or behaviors provides additional insight into the severity of food insecurity. At least half of families reported they often worried about being able to afford enough food, often ran out of money to buy food and often relied on few kinds of low-cost foods to feed their children. The more severe conditions, such as adults cutting the size of their meals or skipping meals, affected one third of families almost every month and 18% of adults reported not eating for a whole day almost every month because they were unable to afford enough food. In 24% of families, children skipped meals almost every month because there was not enough money for food. Food insecure with hunger refers to the more severe items on the child scale, namely skipping meals because there wasnt enough money for food, doing so at in least three months in the past year, going hungry and not eating for a whole day. Read further...