Examining existing gaps in food insecurity research

About 10% of the United States population experiences some level of food insecurity each year, but little research has been conducted on the key details. What groups of people are most likely to experience food insecurity? When is food insecurity most likely to occur?

Geb Bastian, an assistant professor in South Dakota State University’s School of Health and Human Sciences, looked to answer these questions through a unique research study opportunity from the Walmart Foundation and the Center for Nutrition for Health Impact (formerly the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition). Bastian was one of three researchers selected to participate.

“There is no ‘one way’ a food insecure household looks like, but what can we learn from looking at temporal patterns of food insecurity?” Bastian said.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has defined food security as “… when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”

The four pillars the Food and Agriculture Organization uses to characterize food insecurity are: availability, access, utilization and stability, with the last pillar being key to overall security.

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s pillars were utilized by the Center for Nutrition and Impact to develop additional screening surveys that expand on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s existing measures of food insecurity.

Bastian’s research served to study the existing gaps in food insecurity research by examining data from these new measures. The paper is published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Some of the most pertinent findings included the most likely times when households may face food insecurity.

“The season when households are most likely to face food insecurity is in the winter—perhaps due to a lower availability of seasonal foods or due to additional financial stress from the holiday season,” Bastian said.

Bastian also found that at certain times of the month, households are more likely to face food insecurity challenges. This is especially true for those utilizing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“Many households face food insecurity at the end of the month, especially those receiving SNAP benefits,” Bastian said. “This supports other findings that SNAP benefits are insufficient to meet household food needs.”

Another key insight to this study is that certain populations seemingly do not have the safety nets that other populations are afforded.

“Men, especially younger men, are more likely to experience chronic food insecurity,” Bastian said. “This may indicate that our current food security safety net, which often targets families and older adults, may be missing a crucial audience.”

While the results of this research can provide insights into the food insecurity struggles that millions of Americans face, further research on this topic should be conducted, Bastian noted.

“Dietitians and health care practitioners can use these research results to better inform clinical and community-based care around food insecurity,” Bastian said. “For instance, SNAP participants could be screened for food insecurity in a way that allows them to report how household food security may have changed over the course of the past month.”

Future research, Bastian explained, should explore the influences and policies of Medicaid and SNAP on community-level prevalence of food insecurity.