10.8 percent of children live in households with food insecurity

In 2019 to 2020, 10.8% of children lived in households that experienced food insecurity, according to a February data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics.

Heidi Ullmann, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues used data from the 2019 to 2020 National Health Interview Survey to describe the percentages of children aged 0 to 17 years living in food-insecure households during the past 30 days by selected sociodemographic and family characteristics.

• The researchers found that 10.8% of children lived in households that experienced food insecurity during the past 30 days during 2019 to 2020.
• The percentage of children living in food-insecure households was higher for non-Hispanic Black than Hispanic children, and both were higher than for non-Hispanic White children (18.8, 15.7, and 6.5%, respectively).
• The percentage of children with disability living in food-insecure households was higher than the percentage without disability (19.3 versus 9.8%).
• There was variation noted by urbanicity in the percentage of children living in households that experienced food insecurity.
• Associations with household food insecurity were seen for family characteristics such as family structure and number of children in the household.

“Access to sufficient and nutritious food is a key social determinant of health,” the authors write. “As such, disparities in food insecurity may contribute to inequalities in child health status. Information that characterizes disparities in food insecurity may help target interventions to reduce these disparities and promote positive child health outcomes.”

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