Hunger and Socioeconomic Disparities in Chronic Disease

Each year just before Thanksgiving, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports the number of U.S. households that are at risk for going hungry because of an inability to afford food — a condition termed “food insecurity.” After a stable prevalence for the past decade, the rate of food insecurity rose by 32% in 2008, to 14.6% of U.S. households — the highest level since the first food-security survey was conducted in 1995. About 21% of U.S. households with children are affected, as are more than a quarter of black and Hispanic households, and 42% of households with incomes below . . .