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Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
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Index

A

Adverse outcomes, of food insecurity, 46

Aggregations, units requiring from respondents, 65

Applications and policy research priority. See Priority Research Agenda

Argentina. See International adaptations

B

Balanced meal, concept of, 62

Brazil. See International adaptations

C

Center for Survey Methods Research (CSMR), 30–31

Colombia. See International adaptations

Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP), 25, 30

Concepts and definitions, 3–5, 9, 41–54

Conditional statistical independence, 75–77

measurement models, 76–77

Constrained economic resources, defining, 63–64

Current Population Survey (CPS), 1, 7, 11, 14–15, 20–21, 30–35, 48, 55–58, 62, 67, 71, 74–76, 91, 99, 104–109, 113.

See also Food Security Supplement to the Current Population Survey

design of, 55–57

key features of, 100

D

Definitions. See Concepts and definitions

Differential item functioning (DIF), 81–82, 90

Duration, of food insecurity, 62–63

E

Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Birth Cohort of 2002 (ECLS-B), 38

Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
×

Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999 (ECLS-K), 38

Economic Research Service (ERS), 56, 62, 67

F

Federal Food Security Measurement Project, 28

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Life Sciences Research Office, 3–4, 16, 26, 43

First National Conference on Food Security Measurement and Research, 28–30

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), 2, 7, 14–18, 108–111

Food insecurity, 15

concept and definition of, 43–46

defining, 4–5

determinants and consequences of, 9, 45

frequency and duration of, 6

labels of, 51–54

measuring and monitoring, 9

Food insecurity estimates

as a measure of program performance, 7–8, 108–112

Food security, 15

defining, 1, 4

Food Security Measurement Project, 15

Food security status of households, 59

with children, 2, 59

food insecure with hunger, 2

food insecure without hunger, 2

food secure, 2

without children, 59

Food Security Supplement (FSS) to the Current Population Survey, 1, 4, 7, 10–11, 15, 20–21, 30–36, 38, 48–50, 55–58, 63–71, 74–76, 88, 96–100, 105, 113

questions used to assess the food security of households in, 32–33

research activities on, 31–36

Frequency, of food insecurity, 62–63

G

Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), 2, 8, 14, 18, 21, 108, 111

H

History of the development of food insecurity and hunger measures, 23–40

early efforts to define hunger, 23–24

the 1990s: a Period of Transition, 26–30

surveys in the United States, 36–38

uses of the Household Food Security Survey Module in other surveys, 36–40

Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM), 4–9, 21, 30–31, 36, 47–52, 55, 58–70, 80, 89–92, 99, 105

international adaptations, 39–40

Households

classifying based on the manifest data, 88–89

experience of uncertainty and food depletion, 59–60

Hunger

concept and definition of, 9, 47–48

as distinct from food insecurity, 5

early efforts to define, 15, 23–24

feeling of, 60–62

I

Insufficiencies, in quality or quantity of diet, 60

International adaptations, 39–40

Argentina, 40

Brazil, 39

Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
×

Colombia, 40

Israel, 39

Serbia, 40

Yemen, 40

Yugoslavia, 40

Israel. See International adaptations

Item response theory (IRT) and food insecurity, 6–7, 10–11, 71–98

matching the measurement model to the data collected, 92–96

-scale, setting cut points along, 87–88

polytomous IRT models, for polytomous food insecurity questions, 93–96

polytomous items, 92–93

use of estimated IRT models for measuring food insecurity, 83–84, 86–92

L

Latent distribution, 80–83

differential item functioning, 81–82

multiple groups of respondents, 81

posterior, 82–83

Latent variable models

brief history of, 72

and problems of model identifiability, 84–86

structure of latent variable models, 73–86

threshold models for item response functions, 79–80

Life Sciences Research Office (LSRO), 3–4, 16, 26, 43

Logistic item response theory, single-parameter, 14

M

Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR), 32

Measurement and item construction, 63–69

defining constrained economic resources, 63–64

interpretation of question wording, 68–69

reference periods, 66–68

response scales, 68

specification of the reference person(s), 64–66

Measurement error, consequences of, 90–91

Measurement models, 76–77

and item response functions, 78–80

the Rasch model, 78–79

threshold models for item response functions, 79–80

Measurement research, priority. See Priority Research Agenda

Measuring Food Insecurity and Hunger: Phase 1 Report, 3

N

National Academies, Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT), 2–3, 17–18

National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), 51–52

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 51, 87–88, 92

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), 11, 25, 37, 101–105

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 5, 7, 11, 50, 103–105, 110

key features of, 103–104

NHANES III, 25, 103

NHANES IV, 36

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), 7, 11, 101–102, 106

National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research (NNMRR) Act, 14, 27, 50

National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Program (NNMRRP), 16, 27

Nutritional state, core concepts related to, 44

Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
×

P

Phase 1 panel study, 17–19

Phase 2 panel study, 18–20

-scale, setting cut points along, 87–88

Polytomous IRT models, for polytomous food insecurity questions, 93–96

Polytomous items, 92–93

President’s Task Force on Food Assistance, 24–25

Prevalence of food insecurity with and without hunger, 60–61

on latent and manifest scales, 89–90

Priority Research Agenda, 37

Proxy reports, questions asking for, 65–66

Q

Question design issues, 63–70

measurement and item construction, 63–69

Questions

asking for proxy reports, 65–66

assessing the food security of households in the CPS Food Security Supplement, 32–33

interpretation of wording, 68–69

units referred to, 64–65

R

Rasch model, 2, 6–7, 14, 78–79

Recommendations, 8–11, 48–49, 96–98, 105–107

Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), 42

Reduced food intake, 60–62

Reference periods, 66–68

Response scales, 68

S

Scales, stability of over time, 92

Second Conference on Food Security Measurement and Research, 36

Serbia. See International adaptations

Single-parameter logistic item response theory, 14

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), 109

Specification of the reference person(s), 64–66

units requiring respondents to aggregate or summarize, 65

Stability, of scales over time, 92

Statistical independence, 75–76

Survey measurement of food insecurity and hunger, 6, 9, 55–70.

See also Food Security Supplement

current approach to, 55–58

question design issues, 63–70

relationship between concepts and questions, 59–63

Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 7, 11, 38, 107, 110

key features of, 104–105

Survey vehicles to measure food insecurity and hunger, 7, 11, 99–107

key features of selected surveys, 100–105

relative advantages and disadvantages, 105–107

T

Ten-year plan, 27–30

the Federal Food Security Measurement Project, 28

First National Conference on Food Security Measurement and Research, 28–30

U

United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), 40–43

Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
×

U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Survey Methods Research, 30–31

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1–21, 25–27, 31, 34–37, 46, 49, 52, 58, 62–63, 69–71, 78–80, 84–114

Food and Nutrition Service, 2, 7, 14–18, 108–111

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), 14, 17, 26–28

U.S. Food Security Measurement Project, 1, 13

W

Workshop on the Measurement of Food Insecurity and Hunger, 18–19

Y

Yemen. See International adaptations

Yugoslavia. See International adaptations

Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
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Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
×
Page 141
Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
×
Page 142
Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
×
Page 143
Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2006. Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11578.
×
Page 144
Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure Get This Book
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The United States is viewed by the world as a country with plenty of food, yet not all households in America are food secure, meaning access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. A proportion of the population experiences food insecurity at some time in a given year because of food deprivation and lack of access to food due to economic resource constraints. Still, food insecurity in the United States is not of the same intensity as in some developing countries. Since 1995 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has annually published statistics on the extent of food insecurity and food insecurity with hunger in U.S. households. These estimates are based on a survey measure developed by the U.S. Food Security Measurement Project, an ongoing collaboration among federal agencies, academic researchers, and private organizations.

USDA requested the Committee on National Statistics of the National Academies to convene a panel of experts to undertake a two-year study in two phases to review at this 10-year mark the concepts and methodology for measuring food insecurity and hunger and the uses of the measure. In Phase 2 of the study the panel was to consider in more depth the issues raised in Phase 1 relating to the concepts and methods used to measure food security and make recommendations as appropriate.

The Committee on National Statistics appointed a panel of 10 experts to examine the above issues. In order to provide timely guidance to USDA, the panel issued an interim Phase 1 report, Measuring Food Insecurity and Hunger: Phase 1 Report. That report presented the panel's preliminary assessments of the food security concepts and definitions; the appropriateness of identifying hunger as a severe range of food insecurity in such a survey-based measurement method; questions for measuring these concepts; and the appropriateness of a household survey for regularly monitoring food security in the U.S. population. It provided interim guidance for the continued production of the food security estimates. This final report primarily focuses on the Phase 2 charge. The major findings and conclusions based on the panel's review and deliberations are summarized.

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