Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States An Assessment of the Measure (2006) / Chapter Skim
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3 Concepts and Definitions
3 Concepts and Definitions
Pages 41-54
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From page 41... ...
For example, depending on usage and the user, the concept of hunger covers a spectrum from the shortterm physical experience of discomfort to chronic food shortage to severe and life-threatening lack of food. With the establishment of the modern science of nutrition, the concept of malnutrition as a condition brought about by insufficient intake of nutrients to meet biological requirements became a focal construct.
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From page 42... ...
For instance, vitamin A intake varies considerably over time, and only the mean intake over a period of weeks is meaningful nutritionally, because vitamin A is stored and body reserves buffer the variability of intake. Further technical problems relate to the accuracy of reported intake and of the information used to translate food intake into nutrients.
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From page 43... ...
. CONCEPT AND DEFINITION OF FOOD INSECURITY As described in the previous chapter, the broad conceptual definitions of food security and insecurity developed by the expert panel convened in 1989 by the Life Sciences Research Office (LSRO)
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From page 44... ...
. Although lack of economic resources is the most common constraint, food insecurity can also be experienced when food is available and accessible but cannot be used because of physical or other constraints, such as limited physical functioning by elderly people or those with disabilities (Lee and Frongillo, 2001a, 2001b)
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From page 45... ...
It means that we can measure and report the number of people who are in food-insecure households (with not all of them necessarily food insecure themselves)
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From page 46... ...
. Data from a longitudinal study of welfare recipients show that household food insecurity is associated with poor physical and mental health of low-income black and white women (Siefert, Heflin, Corcoran, and Williams, 2004)
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From page 47... ...
The fourth is also not a useful definition or concept of hunger because it refers to the problem of food insecurity itself. The third provides a starting point for consideration as to what is intended for the Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM)
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From page 48... ...
For purposes of the HFSSM included in the Food Security Supplement to the CPS, the term "hunger" should refer to a potential consequence of food insecurity that, because of prolonged, involuntary lack of food, results in discomfort, illness, weakness, or pain that goes beyond the usual uneasy sensation. Two questions therefore arise.
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From page 49... ...
It took a lot of discussion and conferences for the Food Security Measurement Project to reach a working agreement on the operational definition of food security and insecurity. Hunger is a complex concept, and it should be well thought through to ensure agreement among the key users and then to develop and test the appropriate questions and to identify the survey mechanism and sample design for collecting the needed data.
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From page 50... ...
The Food Security Measurement Project working group reached agreement during the 1994 conference to limit the operational definitions and measurement to only those aspects of food security that can be captured in household-level surveys and to further limit the measure to lack of economic resources to obtain food. The definition does not include the supply of food or nutrition.
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From page 51... ...
Because of their importance, the labels should be consistent with the data collected and should communicate a common understanding of what is being measured. The recent report issued by the Committee on Performance Levels for Adult Literacy discusses these as important criteria for labels (National Research Council, 2005)
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From page 52... ...
To illustrate the panel's concerns, consider the USDA report containing the basic estimates from the 2004 CPS supplement on food security (Nord et al., 2005b)
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From page 53... ...
. Again, this report carefully explains the concepts and issues associated with food security and how it is measured and addresses a serious concern about the effect of the classification scheme for a subgroup of great importance, children.
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From page 54... ...
54 FOOD INSECURITY AND HUNGER IN THE UNITED STATES Recommendation 3-4: USDA should examine alternate labels to convey the severity of food insecurity without the problems inher ent in the current labels. Furthermore, USDA should explicitly state in its annual reports that the data presented in the report are esti mates of prevalence of household food insecurity and not preva lence of hunger among individuals.
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