Does Economic Decline Contribute to a Decline in Children’s Food Security?

Most Americans believe that children should not experience persistent worry about the quality or quantity of food consumed due to low household resources. Since 1995, the USDA has tracked children’s food security based upon household responses to the annual Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (CPS-FSS). During this time, a small, but recently growing, share of U.S. households report multiple indicators of reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns among children due to inadequate resources to obtain food (Coleman- Jenson et al, 2012). The USDA classifies children as food secure, low food secure, or very low food secure based upon the number of affirmative responses to eight child-specific food sufficiency questions in the CPS-FSS (Nord, 2009). Children in households that answer one or none of the child specific questions affirmatively are classified as food secure. Children in households that affirmatively answer two to four of the child specific questions are low food secure. Children in households answering five or more questions affirmatively are classified as very low food secure. Jointly, very low food secure children and low food secure children are considered food insecure children. This paper follows the USDA’s definitions in classifying children’s food security status (Figure 1)