Food Insecurity in United States

United States

Food insecurity is an economic and social condition where one’s regular access to food is limited or uncertain. It differs from hunger in that hunger is a physiological feeling. Food insecurity is a complex problem and does not exist in isolation for low-income families. Many food-insecure families also struggle with disadvantages resulting from systemic discrimination, lack of affordable housing, high medical costs and low wages.

Food insecurity has broad effects on health due to the mental and physical stress it places on the body and is associated with an increased risk of many chronic conditions, including diabetes, obesity and heart disease. Children are particularly susceptible to the negative impacts of food insecurity because their brains and bodies are still developing. Among children, food insecurity is associated with anemia, asthma, depression and anxiety, cognitive and behavioral problems, and a higher risk of being hospitalized.

Health-related costs attributed to hunger were conservatively estimated at $160 billion nationally in 2014. Adding in poor educational outcomes brings the total to $178.9 billion. One study found that food-insecure families had annual health care expenditures nearly $2,500 higher than food-secure families.

The prevalence of food insecurity is higher among:

• Black and Hispanic households compared with white households. 
• Lower-income households (i.e., those below 185% of the poverty threshold) than higher-income households. 
• Households with children compared with households without children.
• Households headed by a single adult, particularly a single woman with children, compared with households with multiple adults.

Programs that have been effective at reducing food insecurity by providing either cash or food assistance to those in need include:

• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP and school lunch programs lifted 5.1 million people out of poverty in 2021.
• The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides food and nutritional support for low-income children and pregnant and postpartum women. 
• The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP), recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force, provide free or low-cost meals to students at school. These programs have reduced food insecurity and improved students' diet quality and school performance.
• Local food banks provide free food to those in need.

Healthy People 2030 has an objective to reduce household food insecurity and hunger.

Berkowitz, Seth A., Sanjay Basu, Craig Gundersen, and Hilary K. Seligman. “State-Level and County-Level Estimates of Health Care Costs Associated with Food Insecurity.” Preventing Chronic Disease 16 (July 11, 2019): 180549. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd16.180549.

Palakshappa, Deepak, Arvin Garg, Alon Peltz, Charlene A. Wong, Rushina Cholera, and Seth A. Berkowitz. “Food Insecurity Was Associated With Greater Family Health Care Expenditures In The US, 2016–17: Study Examines the Relationship between Food Insecurity and Family Health Care Expenditures.” Health Affairs 42, no. 1 (January 1, 2023): 44–52. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00414.

Shrider, Emily A., and John Creamer. “Poverty in the United States: 2022.” Current Population Reports P60-280. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau, September 2023. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2023/demo/p60-280.pdf.