Section 6.3.1

America's Second Harvest became Feeding America in 2008. This study was published prior to that name change in 2001.

6.3.1 - Indicators of Food Insecurity and Hunger Among Adults

Table 6.3.1 presents responses to the four questions about adults in the six-item short module.

Table 6.3.1
INDICATORS OF FOOD INSECURITY AND HUNGER AMONG ADULTS
Four Questions in the Six-Item Short Module Pantry Client Households Kitchen Client Households Shelter Client Households All Client Households
How often adult clients or other adults in the household cut the size of meals or skipped meals because there wasn't enough money for food for the previous 12 months        
Almost every month 21.5% 25.2% 25.1% 22.2%
Some months but not every month 20.5% 17.7% 19.3% 20.0%
Only one or two months 6.4% 5.1% 8.3% 6.4%
Never 50.1% 50.2% 46.3% 49.9%
Clients who ate less than they felt they should because there wasn't enough money to buy food for the previous 12 months        
Yes 50.7% 51.8% 50.9% 50.9%
No 49.3% 48.2% 49.1% 49.1%
TOTAL 100% 100% 100% 100%
Clients who were hungry but didn't eat because they couldn't afford enough food for the previous 12 months        
Yes 32.5% 40.8% 48.3% 34.4%
No 67.5% 59.2% 51.7% 65.6%
TOTAL 100% 100% 100% 100%
Clients or other adults in the household ever did not eat for a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food        
Yes 19.6% 33.4% 35.8% 22.2%
No 80.4% 66.6% 64.2% 77.8%
TOTAL 100% 100% 100% 100%
SAMPLE SIZE (N) 24,436 5,441 2,882 32,759

Source
This table was constructed based on usable responses to Questions 44, 44a, 45, 46, and 47 of the client survey.

Notes
Responses may not add up to 100% because this panel was constructed from two questions: "Never" came from Question 44, and the other responses from Question 44a.

The percentages presented in this table are based only on usable responses, excluding missing, don't know, and refusal responses. All usable responses were weighted as described in Chapter 3 and in the Technical Appendix volume to represent all emergency food clients of the A2H network. The sample sizes (N) also include missing data.

For cutting meal size, missing, don't know, and refusal responses combined are 4.7% for pantry clients, 4.4% for kitchen clients, 2.5% for shelter clients, and 4.5% for all clients.

For eating less, missing, don't know, and refusal responses combined are 3.5% for pantry clients, 2.9% for kitchen clients, 1.6% for shelter clients, and 3.4% for all clients.

For being hungry because could not afford food, missing, don't know, and refusal responses combined are 3.4% for pantry clients, 2.7% for kitchen clients, 1.1% for shelter clients, and 3.2% for all clients.

For not eating for a whole day, missing, don't know, and refusal responses combined are 3.0% for pantry clients, 2.3% for kitchen clients, 1.1% for shelter clients, and 2.8% for all clients.

 

Adults in 22.2% of the client households had to cut the size of meals or skip meals because there wasn't enough money for food almost every month of the previous 12 months. Responses to the remaining three questions are:

  • 50.9% of the clients ate less than they felt they should because there was not enough money to buy food during the previous 12 months.
  • 34.4% of the clients were hungry but did not eat because they could not afford enough food during the previous 12 months.
  • Adults in 22.2% of the client households did not eat for a whole day at least once during the previous 12 months because there was not enough money for food.