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Review USDA’s Measurement of Food Insecurity and Hunger

The Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) proposes to convene a panel study to review the USDA’s current conceptualization and methods for measuring food insecurity and hunger in the U.S. population. In Phase I of the study, the panel will plan and conduct a workshop to consider the conceptualization of hunger and methods for measuring hunger are appropriate for the policy purposes for which they are intended. Phase I will examine, as appropriate, the USDA’s 18-item survey questionnaire, methods of combining questions into scaled measures, and methods used to identify and designate hunger in the U.S. population. Phase II of the study, if funded, will consider the conceptualization and methods for measuring food insecurity in more depth and make recommendations to enhance such methods for monitoring, evaluation, and related research purposes.

Staff:

Gooloo Wunderlich, Study Director

Michele Ver Ploeg, Study Director (until October 2004)

Lance Hunter, Senior Project Assistant

Committee Members:

JANET NORWOOD (Chair), Independent Consultant

ERIC T. BRADLOW, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business

J. MICHAEL BRICK, Westat, Rockville, MD

EDWARD A. FRONGILLO, JR., Cornell University

PAUL W. HOLLAND, Educational Testing Service

MICHAEL D. HURD, The RAND Corporation

HELEN H. JENSEN, Iowa State University

NANCY MATHIOWETZ, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

SUSAN E. MAYER, University of Chicago

DONALD DIEGO ROSE, Tulane University

Reports Information:

Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure (2006)

Measuring Food Insecurity and Hunger: Phase 1 Report (2005)

Commissioned Papers:

Conceptualization and Instrumentation of Food Security, J.P. Habicht, G. Pelto, E.A. Frongillo, and D. Rose

The Uses and Purposes of the USDA Food Security and Hunger Measure, P. Wilde

Item-Response Models and Their Use in Measuring Food Security and Hunger, M.S. Johnson

Alternative Construction of a Food Security and Hunger Measure from 1995 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement Data, K. Alaimo and A. Froelich

A Comparison of Surveys for Food Insecurity and Hunger Measurement, S.J. Haider

Methodological Issues in Measuring Food Insecurity and Hunger, M.S. Johnson

The Concept and Definition of Hunger and its Relationship to Food Insecurity, D.H. Holben

Cognitive Aspects of the Questions Used to Measure Food Insecurity and Hunger, J. Dykema and N.C. Schaeffer

For more information and other reports please contact: Lance Hunter at: (202) 334-2042