Lack of Food Security: Focussed Literature Review and Research Framework - August 2001
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Appendix B
Review of Previously-Used Questions
Questions to identify those not food secure
United States Department of Agriculture Questions
1.Thinking about the past year, which of the following statements best describes the amount of food eaten in your household: Enough to eat, sometimes not enough to eat, often not enough to eat?
2. (If enough) Over the past year, did you have: enough and the kind of food you wanted to eat, enough but not always the kind of food you wanted to eat?
Nutrition Screening Initiative (NSI) Food Insecurity Item
I don't always have enough money to buy the food I need.
Cornell-Frongillo Item
Did you ever not eat for a whole day because you had no food or money to buy food?
The Urban Institute Questions
1. In the past year, have there been days when you had no food in the house and no money to buy food? (U.S. question includes food stamps)
2. In the past year, have you skipped meals because you had no food in the house and no money to buy food?
The National Population Health Survey, Canada
1. Which of the best following describes the food situation in your household?
- Always enough food to eat
- Sometimes not enough food to eat
- Often not enough food to eat
2. Thinking about the last 12 months, did your household ever run out of money to buy food?
Questions regarding food insecurity
The Cornell/Radimer questionnaire to estimate the prevalence of hunger and food insecurity
Responses: Often true, sometimes true, never true
1. I worry about whether my food will run out before I get money to buy more.
2. I worry about whether the food that I can afford to buy for my household will be enough.
3. The food that I bought just didn't last and I didn't have money to get more.
4. I ran out of the food that I needed to put together a meal and I didn't have money to get more food.
5. We eat the same thing for several days in a row because we only have a few different kinds of food on hand and don't have money to buy more.
6. I am often hungry, but I don't eat because I can't afford enough food.
7. I eat less than I think I should because I don't have enough money for food.
8. I can't afford to eat properly.
9. My child(ren) is/are not eating enough because I can't afford enough food.
10. I know my child(ren) is/are hungry sometimes but I can't afford more food.
11. I cannot afford to feed my child(ren) a balanced meal because I can't afford that.
12. Sometimes people lose weight because they don't have enough to eat. In the past year, did you lose weight because there wasn't enough food? (Yes. No)
13. In the past year, have you had hunger pangs but couldn't eat because you couldn't afford food? (Yes, No)
A household is:
Food secure if..........None of the answers to item 1-11 are positive.
Food insecure if..........one or more answers to items 1-11 are positive
Individual insecure if..........one or more answers to items 6-11 are positive
Individual hungry if..........one or more answers to items 6-8 are positive and
- one or more answers to items 12-13 are positive
- one or more answers to items 9 and 10 are positive
Child hungry if..........one or more answers to items 9-10 are positive.
The Edmonton Hunger Scale
The scale was used by the Edmonton Food Policy Council in 1990. The scales were adapted from the instrument used by the Washington-based Food Research and Action Centre in their Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP) in seven states in the U.S. and New York City in 1991. There was both an adult and child hunger scale, both based on a series of five questions. CCHIP questions include questions on the household level and the individual level. The questions are similar to the Cornell Radimer scale.
Questions on the Adult Hunger Scale
1. Worry, anxiety
I worry whether my food will run out before I get money to buy more.
2. Lack of income to buy food
Does your household ever run out of money to buy food?
3. Food insufficiency - quantity
Do you ever eat less than you feel you should because there is not enough money to buy food?
4. Diet inadequacy - quality
Do you ever cut back to eating just a few kinds of cheaper food because of not enough money?
5. More severe food insufficiency
Have you ever gone without food for a day or more because there wasn't enough money to buy food?
Questions in the Child Hunger Scale
1. Quality of food
I can afford to feed my child good quality food.
2. Variety of food
I can afford to give my child many different kinds of food.
3. Food insufficiency - quantity
Do you ever have to cut the size of your child's meals because there is not enough money for food?
4. Reported hunger
Is your child ever hungry because there is not enough food in the house and there is no money to buy more?
5. Severe food insufficiency
Has your child ever gone without food for a day or more because there wasn't enough money to buy food?
Adults who answered Yes to all five questions were considered Very Hungry, Yes to three or four questions, Hungry; and Yes to one or two questions, At Risk; and No to all questions as Not Hungry. On the child hunger scale, a No to the first two questions and Yes to the last three questions meant that the child was Very Hungry (Olson, K.W. 1992, p. 7,50).
Questions on income management
Urban Institute Questions
1. In the past year, have you had to choose between buying food and paying rent or utility bills? (Can add mortgage and maintenance bills)
2. In the past year, have you had to choose between buying food and buying medicines?
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