Hunger in the United States, as most people understand it, is thankfully rare. According to the most recent Household Food Security in the United States report, approximately 5 percent of US households had “very low food security” at some point in 2024. This measure, defined as reduced food intake due to a lack of money, applied to less than 1 percent of households with children in the same reference year (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Households with Children by Food Security Status, 2024
Even among these households, “very low food security” was typically episodic rather than persistent; roughly three-quarters of those who experienced it reported doing so rarely or sometimes, not often. The small share of children with very low food security has been relatively consistent since at least 2001, with around 1 percent households with children experiencing disrupted food patterns due to a lack of money (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Trends in the Prevalence of Food Insecurity in US Households with Children, 2001-2024
Many people are likely surprised to hear that hunger is rare in the US. We have become accustomed to media portrayals of widespread hunger, with major news outlets and advocates often conflating food insecurity with hunger and faulting the federal government for not doing more. In reality, food deprivation in the US is fairly uncommon – in large part due to substantial federal investments in nutrition assistance programs, which totaled more than $140 billion in FY 2024.
The source for these facts is the federal government’s now discontinued Food Security survey. The definition of “food insecurity” refers to households that report reduced quality, variety, or desirability of their diet, with little or no indication of reduced food intake (emphasis added). In other words, these households report having enough to eat, but not necessarily the types or quality of food they prefer, or they report having enough food but face anxiety around affording it. Roughly 10 percent of households with children report that their children experienced this condition (Figure 2).
While food insecurity is an important concept, it should not be confused with the physical pain and discomfort associated with going without food, which is a more alarming condition. It is also important to note that while reports of food insecurity are correlated with low income, not all food insecure households are without means. In fact, in a 2024 study with my colleague Thomas O’Rourke, we found that 25 percent of food insecure households fell in the top three quintiles of household income.
In contrast, the government’s definition of “very low food security” includes “reports of multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake” (emphasis added). This condition better approximates hunger. Less than 1 percent of households with children report this condition among the children.
The distinction between food insecurity and hunger has important implications for policymaking and for evaluating the effectiveness of existing programs. That less than 1 percent of US children experience very low food security undoubtedly stems from the substantial federal investments in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (or WIC), and the National School Lunch program. At the same time, expanding these programs without addressing their nutritional shortcomings may be contributing to high rates of obesity and being overweight among children—arguably a more pressing public health challenge than hunger itself.
Some of the misinterpretations and incongruences between food insecurity and hunger drove the decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last fall to discontinue its annual Food Security Survey—a dramatic step aimed at curbing the misleading portrayals of government data. Moving forward, the USDA should consider revising the survey to not only capture experiences of food deprivation, but also to document overconsumption and nutritional deficiencies among children.
None of this is to suggest complacency when it comes to hunger or food insecurity. Any instance of hunger—especially involving children—is unacceptable in a country as wealthy as the United States. And food insecurity, when properly understood, remains a legitimate public policy concern. But when such a large share of Americans are portrayed as lacking sufficient quantities of food, we lose focus on identifying and supporting the relatively small share of households that experience food deprivation.