U.S. Households With Children Are Exposed to Nonpersistent and Persistent Food Insecurity

The objective of this study was to quantify and describe the extent to which children are exposed to food insecurity across middle childhood in the United States. Specifically, we aimed to longitudinally identify (1) the prevalence of nonpersistent and persistent food insecurity in households with children between kindergarten and eighth grade and (2) possible disparities in the prevalence of nonpersistent and persistent food insecurity in households with children between kindergarten and eighth grade. Data were obtained from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten data set. We found that many households with children in the United States experience nonpersistent and persistent food insecurity and considerable disparities exist between population groups.