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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Eliminate very low food security in children — NWS‑02 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (CPS-FSS), Census and USDA/ERS

Baseline: 0.59 percent of households with children under 18 years had very low food security among children in 2018

Target: 0.00 percent

Numerator
Number of households with very low food security among children under 18 years over a 12-month period.
Denominator
Number of households with children under 18 years.
Target-setting method
Projection
Target-setting method details
Linear trend fitted using weighted least squares and a projection at the 75 percent prediction interval.
1
Target-setting method justification
Trend data were evaluated for this objective. Using historical data points, a trend line was fitted using weighted least squares and the trend was projected into the next decade. This method was used because three or more comparable data points were available, the projected value was within the range of possible values, and a projection at the 75 percent prediction interval was selected because the target is consistent with the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) goal to ensure that all Americans can meet their food needs.

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)

From the 2018 Food Security Supplement to the Current Population Survey:

Numerator:
(I/we) relied on only a few kinds of low-cost food to feed the children because I/we were running out of money to buy food. Was that often, sometimes, or never true for (you/your household) in the last 12 months?
  1. Often
  2. Sometimes
  3. Never
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused
(I/we) couldn't feed the children a balanced meal because (I/we) couldn't afford that. Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
  1. Often
  2. Sometimes
  3. Never
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused
The children were not eating enough because (I/we) just couldn't afford enough food. Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
  1. Often
  2. Sometimes
  3. Never
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused
In the last 12 months, did you ever cut the size of any of the children's meals because there wasn't enough money for food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused
In the last 12 months, were the children ever hungry but you just couldn't afford more food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused
In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever skip a meal because there wasn't enough money for food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused

[If yes:]

How often did this happen - almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months?

  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused
In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused

Methodology notes

The U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module is a set of 18 questions developed in the early 1990s by an interagency working group led jointly by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service and CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. Eight of the questions ask about food conditions among children in the household. All of the questions in the module focus explicitly on food inadequacy and insufficiency that result from inadequate household resources. Other sources of food insecurity, such as child abuse or neglect are not identified by the measure.

The Food Security Supplement is administered annually to about 40,000 households in December as part of the monthly, nationally representative Current Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. About 15,000 of the households include children age 0 to 17. The supplement has been conducted annually since 1995.

The survey responses are used to measure food insecurity in the household. A subset of child-referenced questions measure food insecurity among children in the household at various levels of severity. Both measures represent the most severe food insecurity that has occurred over the 12-month period prior to the survey. Households are classified as having high or marginal food security among children if zero or one of the child-referenced questions are answered affirmatively. Low food security is indicated by affirmative responses to 2, 3 or 4 questions, and very low food security by affirmative responses to 5 or more questions. Answers of "yes," "often," or "sometimes" are considered affirmative. Very low food security among children is a severe range of food insecurity in which children's eating patterns are disrupted and food intake reduced below levels considered adequate by the adult respondent.

Disability status in the population template combines information on all adult household members and includes disabled-not in labor force, and other disabilities including hearing, vision, mental, physical, self-care, and going-outside-home disabilities.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Retained, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 with no change in measurement.

1. Because Healthy People 2030 objectives have a desired direction (e.g., increase or decrease), the confidence level of a one-sided prediction interval can be used as an indication of how likely a target will be to achieve based on the historical data and fitted trend.