5.9 Percent of Adults Live in Families Experiencing Food Insecurity

THURSDAY, April 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) — In 2021, 5.9 percent of adults lived in families experiencing food insecurity, according to an April data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics.

Julie D. Weeks, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues used data from the National Health Interview Survey to examine the characteristics of adults living in families experiencing food insecurity.

The researchers found that 5.9 percent of adults aged 18 years or older lived in families experiencing food insecurity in the past 30 days in 2021; food insecurity was higher for women than men (6.5 versus 5.2 percent). Compared with adults without disabilities, those with disabilities were three times more likely to live in families experiencing food insecurity (15 versus 5 percent). There was variation seen by urbanization level in the percentage of adults experiencing family food insecurity. Unmarried adults living with children younger than 18 years had the highest family food insecurity (9.8 percent), while food insecurity was lowest for married adults not living with children younger than 18 years (3.4 percent).

“In 2021, 33.8 million people in the United States were food insecure; that is, they did not have consistent, dependable access to sufficient quality or quantity of food,” the authors write. “Food insecurity affects health outcomes, increasing the risk of high cholesterol, hypertension, chronic health conditions, and changes in functional limitations, and is a social determinant of health.”