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How many people are very food insecure in the United States?

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How many people are very food insecure in the  United States?

In 2014, 14.0 percent of households (17.5 million households, approximately one in seven), were food insecure. Food-insecure households (those with low and very low food security) had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources.

In 2014, 5.6 percent of U.S. households (6.9 million households) had very low food security. In this more severe range of food insecurity, the food intake of some household members was reduced and normal eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year due to limited resources.

Low and very low food security differ in the extent and character of the adjustments the household makes to its eating patterns and food intake. Households classified as having low food security have reported multiple indications of food acquisition problems and reduced diet quality, but typically have reported few, if any, indications of reduced food intake.

In households with very low food security, in these food-insecure households, normal eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and food intake was reduced at times during the year because they had insufficient money or other resources for food.

On average, households with very low food security at some time during the year experienced it in 7 months during the year and in 1 to 7 days in each of those months. Ninety-seven percent of those classified as having low food security reported that an adult had cut the size of meals or skipped meals because there was not enough money for food and 27 percent reported that an adult did not eat for a whole day because there was not enough money for food.

(This information was taken from USDA Household Food Security in the United States in 2014 pp. 4-11)

  • 1. What percentage of United States families have very low food security ?
  • 2. Very low food security for a family means?
  • 3. How many months a year did these families, on average, face some degree of hunger?
  • 4. Following on to question 3, during the number of months that some family members did experience hunger, what was the range of days that at least some family members experienced hunger?
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