Sources
of Questions for Surveys
Food, Security and Hunger Questions
The Food Security Measurement Project
A new tool for assessing food security and hunger has recently been developed. The tool is contains 18 items from the larger set of Current Population Survey (CPS) questions asked by the Bureau of the Census to monitor food security and hunger in the US population. These items have been chosen for their ability to reliably categorize households by severity of food insecurity. Those who developed the tool hoped to design an instrument that can be used in smaller survey efforts to reliably monitor food security in populations. The core module can be administered in about 2 minutes. Detailed instructions for administration and evaluation of the questionnaire are available.This tool can be used to classify households into one of four categories of food security:
- Food secure: Households with no or minimal evidence of food insecurity.
- Food insecure without hunger: Food insecurity is evident in household's concerns and in adjustments to household food management, including reduced quality of diets. Little or no reduction in household member's food intake is reported.
- Food insecure with moderate hunger: Food intake for adults in the household has been reduced to an extent that it implies that adults have repeatedly experienced the physical sensation of hunger. Such reductions are not observed at this stage for children in the household.
- Food insecure with severe hunger: Households with children have reduced the children's food intake to an extent that it implies that the children have experienced the physical sensation of hunger. Adults in households with and without children have repeatedly experienced more extensive reductions in food intake at this stage.
- Household Food Security in the United States in 1995: Executive Summary
- Measuring Food Security in the United States: Guide to Implementing the Core Food Security Module.
- Summary Report of the Food Security Measurement Project
- Technical Report of the Food Security Measurement Project
- A complete description of the questions included in the Core Food Security Scale may be found in Measuring Food Security in the United States: Guide to Implementing the Core Food Security Module. The basic questions are presented on this web page to enhance understanding, but those who are considering the use of the hunger questions should obtain the complete documentation.
Questions Included in the Core Food Security Scale
Stage 1
Now I'm going to read you several statements that people have made about their food situation. Please tell me whether the statement was often, sometimes, or never true in the last 12 months:"I worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?"
"The food that we bought just didn't last, and we didn't have money to get more." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
"We couldn't afford to eat balanced meals." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
"We relied on only a few kinds of low-cost food to feed the children because we were running out of money to buy food." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
"We couldn't feed the children a balanced meal because we couldn't afford that." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
Stage 2
"The children were not eating enough because we just couldn't afford enough food." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?In the last 12 months, did you or other adults in your household ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals because there wasn't enough money for food?
In the last 12 months, did you ever eat less than you felt you should because there wasn't enough money to buy food?
In the last 12 months were you ever hungry but didn't eat because you couldn't afford enough food?
Sometimes people lose weight because they don't have enough to eat. In the last 12 months, did you lose weight because there wasn't enough food?
Stage 3
In the last 12 months, did you or other adults in your household ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food? How often did this happen - almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only one or two months?In the last 12 months, did you ever cut the size of any of the children's meals because there wasn't enough money for food?
In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever skip meals because there wasn't enough money for food? How often did this happen - almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only one or two months?
In the last 12 months, were the children ever hungry but you just couldn’t afford more food?
In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever not eat for a whole
day because there wasn't enough money for food?
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