Indicator 2.1.2 - Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
Percent of adults with severe food insecurity in the US
Percent of adults with severe food insecurity in the US
Global Metadata
This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the United Nations Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata documentation on all indicators in Goal 2, unless otherwise noted, is provided by the UN Statistics Division.
| SDG Indicator Name | Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) |
|---|---|
| SDG Target Addressed | By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round. |
| Definition of SDG Indicator | These are in reality two related indicators, representing the percentage of individuals in the national adult population (15 or more years of age) that have experienced moderate or severe levels and severe levels of food insecurity respectively, during the previous year.Severity of food insecurity is defined as the extent to which people have difficulties in accessing food of adequate quality and/or quantity due to lack of money or other resources. Difficulties include also psychological concerns associated with the struggle in accessing food. |
| UN Designated Tier | 1 |
| UN Custodial Agency | FAO |
U.S. Metadata
This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from U.S. statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from U.S. statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other US-specific metadata information
| Method of computation for global SDG indicator | See https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-02-01-02.pdf. |
|---|---|
| Graph Title | Percent of adults with severe food insecurity in the US |
| Actual indicator available | Food insecurity as measured by FAO’s Food Insecurity Experience Scale. |
| Description of actual indicator available | Comparable prevalence rates of food insecurity experienced by adults throughout the world. |
| Method of computation | “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO, 2009). FAO sponsors the Food Insecurity Experience Scale Survey Module (FIES-SM) as part of the Gallup World Poll (GWP) and collects information on food insecurity in 150 countries. FAO has created a global standard to create comparable estimates of moderate and severe food insecurity in countries around the world. The GWP obtains a nationally representative sample in each country through either phone or in person surveys. FAO’s Voices of the Hungry Technical Report: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4830e.pdf Where it is possible, FAO uses Federal surveys already measuring food insecurity to produce food insecurity estimates that are comparable in severity to the FIES. For the United States, FAO utilizes Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement to produce estimates of moderate and severe food insecurity. This is the same data used in USDA’s annual household food security report, but threshold for food insecurity as defined by FAO global standard is different from USDA’s threshold for food insecurity. USDA’s Household Food Security in the United States in 2015: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=79760 |
| Comments and limitations | Food security is based on the Rasch measurement model. The FIES as part of the GWP has only been administered for two years and only one year of data (2014) is publicly available so far. While the FIES is based on well-validated experiential food security measures it’s use as an international standard for assessing food security is relatively new. Note that the FAO FIES measure should be used for international comparisons, but the USDA food security measure should be used for more detailed information on U.S. food security. The prevalence of moderate and severe food insecurity in the U.S. per the FIES standard was 10.2 percent with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.27 percent. The prevalence of severe food insecurity in the U.S. per the FIES standard was 1.2 percent with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.08 percent. |
| Periodicity | Annual |
| Time Period | Last 12 months |
| Unit of measure | Prevalence estimates, percentage of adults experiencing food insecurity in the past 12 months. |
| Disaggregation #1 (Industry or social categories) | Not reported by FAO. |
| Disaggregation #2 (Geographical coverage) | Not reported by FAO. |
| Date of public data release from National source | Not set. Last release in April 2016, updated in August 2016. |
| Date of last Update of This Page | November 2016 |
| Scheduled Update by National source | Unknown |
| Scheduled Update by SDG Team | |
| Data Source1 (Agency STAFF NAME) | Constance Newman |
| Data Source2 (Staff E-MAIL) | cnewman@ers.usda.gov |
| Data Source3 (Agency/Survey/Dataset name) | Economic Research Service reporting estimates from the Food Insecurity Experience Scale as published by FAO. |
| Indicator web address (closest to data provided) | http://www.fao.org/in-action/voices-of-the-hungry/en/ |
| International and National References | http://www.fao.org/in-action/voices-of-the-hungry/en/ http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us.aspx |