YSPH Professor Calls for Action Against Household Food Insecurity

Many children in the United States are at high risk for developmental problems due to household food insecurity.

Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Ph.D., a professor in the division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology and director of the Office of Community Health at the School of Public Health, noted during a recent seminar sponsored by the Zigler Center, that in 2008 nearly 15 percent of U.S. households were classified as having some degree of food insecurity. That figure is the highest since 1995 and includes some 17 million households, most of which have children.

Food insecurity measurements have been refined by researchers around the world in the last 20 years. While the measurements are slightly different, they all evaluate quantity of food or calories, quality of food, psycho-emotional aspects of food insecurity and some are attempting to measure whether foods are being acquired through socially acceptable means. “It is time to standardize these measures,” said Pérez-Escamilla, who pointed out that data have been gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau since 1995 and are influential in public policy making.

Food insecurity is most likely found in households that are poor, formed by ethnic/racial minorities, with a single female head of household and that have children. However, data show that not all poor people experience food insecurity and not all people with food insecurity are poor. “That suggests that resilience and household management skills have a role to play,” he said.

What is consistent in the research is that the risks to children’s psycho-social and emotional development and academic performance are high, even after adjusting for poverty. Problems manifest in high rates of absenteeism from school, tardiness, hyperactivity, aggression, anxiety, depression, suicidal symptoms and low test scores, “There is enough evidence to call for children’s health and development professionals and services to probe for household food insecurity. Food insecurity is a powerful stressor,” said Pérez-Escamilla.

Also of concern are issues of “hidden hunger” or micro-nutrient malnutrition that results from calorie-rich, but nutrient-deficient diets. Obesity, chronic diseases, stress, depression and impaired performance are all common consequences, not only among children but also in adults.

Rafael Pérez-Escamilla’s public health nutrition and food security research has led to improvements in breastfeeding promotion, iron deficiency anemia among infants (by delaying the clamping of the umbilical cord after birth), household food security measurement and outcomes and community nutrition education programs worldwide.