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Food Insecurity by Year, New Jersey and the United States, 2018 to 2022

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Why Is This Important?

Inconsistent access to adequate amounts of nutritious food can have a negative impact on the health of individuals of all ages. In the US, adults in food insecure households are much more likely than food secure adults to have hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic health problems. Although food insecurity is harmful to any individual, it can be particularly devastating among children because they are more vulnerable to potential long-term consequences for their future physical and mental health and academic achievement.

Definition

Food insecurity refers to the USDA's measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Food insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a household's need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods.

Data Source

Map the Meal Gap Report, Feeding America, U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service
(http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america)

How the Measure is Calculated

  • Numerator:

    Estimated number of persons living in food-insecure households
  • Denominator:

    Estimated number of persons in population

Data Issues

Due to changes in methodology, estimates from before 2018 are not comparable to those from more recent years.

Related Health Objectives and Indicators





Related Relevant Population Characteristics Indicators:

Health Topic Pages Related to: Food Insecurity

Indicator Data Last Updated On 06/18/2024, Published on 07/30/2024
Office of Nutrition and Fitness, Division of Community Health, New Jersey Department of Health, Trenton, NJ 08625 (https://www.nj.gov/health/nutrition/)