America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007

Food Security and Diet Quality

A family's ability to provide for its children's nutritional needs is linked to the family's food security—that is, to its access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.⁴² The food security status of households is assessed based on self-reports of difficulty in obtaining enough food, reduced food intake, reduced diet quality, and anxiety about an adequate food supply. In some households classified as food insecure, only adults' diets and food intakes were affected, but in a majority of such households, children's eating patterns were also disrupted to some extent and the quality and variety of their diets were adversely affected.⁴³ In a subset of food-insecure households—those classified as having very low food security among children—a parent or guardian reported that at some time during the year one or more children were hungry, skipped a meal, or did not eat for a whole day because the household could not afford enough food.⁴⁴

Indicator ECON3.A: Percentage of children ages 0–17 in food-insecure households by annual household income, selected years 1995–2005

• About 12 million children (17 percent) lived in households that were classified as food insecure at times in 2005. Just over 600,000 of these children (0.8 percent of all children) lived in households classified as having very low food security among children.
• The percentage of children living in food-insecure households declined from 19 percent in 2004 to 17 percent in 2005. The percentage of children living in households with very low food security declined from 1.3 percent in 1995 to 0.7 percent in 1999 and has remained in the range of 0.6–0.8 percent since then (see table ECON3.A).
• In 2005, the proportions of children living in food-insecure households were substantially above the national average (17 percent) for those living in poverty (42 percent), Black, non-Hispanics (29 percent) and Hispanics (24 percent), those whose parents or guardians lacked a high school diploma or GED (37 percent), and those living with a single mother (33 percent).

The diet quality of children and adolescents is of concern because poor eating patterns established in childhood usually transfer to adulthood. Such patterns are major factors in the increasing rate of child obesity over the past decades and are contributing factors to certain diseases. The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a summary measure of diet quality. The HEI consists of 10 components, each representing different aspects of a healthful diet. Components 1 through 5 measure the degree to which a person's diet conforms to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid serving recommendations for the five major food groups: grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, and meat or meat alternatives. Components 6 and 7 measure fat and saturated fat consumption. Components 8 and 9 measure cholesterol intake and sodium intake, and component 10 measures the degree of variety in a person's diet. Scores for each component are given equal weight and added to calculate an overall HEI score. This overall HEI score is then used to determine diet quality based on a scale established by nutrition experts.

Indicator ECON3.B: Percentage of children ages 2–18 by age and diet quality as measured by the Healthy Eating Index, 1994–1996, 1999–2000, and 2001–2002

• In 2001–2002, as in previous years, most children had a diet that was poor or needed improvement, as indicated by their HEI score.
• As children get older, their diet quality declines. In 2001–2002, among children ages 2–6, 27 percent had a good diet, 65 percent had a diet needing improvement, and 8 percent had a poor diet. Among those ages 7–12, 9 percent had a good diet, 75 percent had a diet needing improvement, and 16 percent had a poor diet. Among children ages 13–18, 5 percent had a good diet, 73 percent had a diet needing improvement, and 22 percent had a poor diet.
• The lower quality diets of older children are linked to declines in their intake of grains, fruits, and milk, and increases in their cholesterol and sodium intake.
• Children in families with incomes below the poverty line are no more likely than children in families with incomes at or above the poverty line to have a diet rated as poor. In 2001–2002, among children ages 2–6, 9 percent of those below poverty had a poor diet, compared with 8 percent of those living at or above the poverty line.

 ECON3A HTML Table, ECON3B HTML Table

 ECON3A Excel Table, ECON3B Excel Table