Data Connections Activity

8.1 Synopsis1 of 5

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You must read each slide, and complete any questions on the slide, in sequence.

Welcome

Food Insecurity Around the World and in the United States

This activity explores how rates of food insecurity vary, both around the world and within various types of households in the United States.

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Hand holding grocery store receipt with colorful produce in the background.
Oleg Doroshin/Shutterstock

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Prevalence of Food Insecurity Around the World

Households that are uncertain of having, or are unable to acquire, enough food to sustain all individuals in the home—either because of insufficient money or lack of other resources—have food insecurity. Children are most vulnerable, as inadequate food intake can lead to serious health, behavior, and cognitive deficits.

Wealthy countries tend to have lower rates of food insecurity, but the United States is a notable exception: Its prevalence of food hardship is more similar to that of China than of France.

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Prevalence of Food Insecurity in the United States

An estimated 12 percent of U.S. households were food insecure at some point in 2017. That is a decrease from 2014, when 14 percent of U.S. families experienced food insecurity. The prevalence of very low food security also declined, from 4.9 percent in 2016 to 4.5 percent in 2017.

Click on each button to see what percentage of U.S. households with and without children experience food insecurity.




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Food Insecurity Around the World and in the United States

Hand holding grocery store receipt with colorful produce in the background.
Oleg Doroshin/Shutterstock
Which of these possible solutions for eliminating food insecurity is best, and which is worst?
Raising the minimum wage; making it easier to get food stamps; requiring every pregnant woman to live with the father; providing free meals at schools and day-care centers; subsidizing farmers to make fresh produce less expensive; taxing less nutritious foods at restaurants and/or grocery stores. Explain your answer.
Answers will vary, but your response should take all aspects of the biopsychosocial perspective into consideration.

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REFERENCES

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2016, February 9). Food security indicators. Retrieved from: www.fao.org/economic/ess/ess-fs/ess-fadata/

Coleman-Jensen, Alisha, Matthew P. Rabbitt, Christian A. Gregory, and Anita Singh. Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2017, AP-079, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, September 2018.