A family's ability to provide for its children's nutritional needs is linked to the family's food security—that is, to its access at all times to adequate food for an active, healthy life for all household members.³⁷ The food security status of households is based on self-reported difficulty in obtaining enough food, reduced food intake, reduced diet quality, and anxiety about an adequate food supply. In some households classified as food insecure, only adults' diets and food intakes were affected, but in a majority of such households, children's eating patterns were also disrupted to some extent, and the quality and variety of their diets were adversely affected.³⁸ In a subset of food-insecure households—those classified as having very low food security among children—a parent or guardian reported that at some time during the year, one or more children were hungry, skipped a meal, or did not eat for a whole day because the household could not afford enough food.^{39, 40}

Indicator ECON3: Percentage of children, ages 0–17, living in food-insecure households by poverty status, 2007–2021

• In 2021, 13% of all children (9.3 million children) lived in households classified as food insecure. This percentage of children living in food-insecure households was lower than the percentage in 2020 (16%) and was the lowest recorded level since the Great Recession (23% in 2009).
• The prevalence of food insecurity has consistently been highest for children living in households with annual incomes below the official poverty line, followed by households with incomes at 100%–199% of the poverty line, and lowest for households with incomes at or above 200% of the poverty line. In 2021, 32% of children in households with incomes below 100% of the poverty line were food insecure (substantially above the national average for all children), whereas 5% of children in households with incomes below 200% of the poverty line were food insecure (well below the national average).
• In 2021, the percentages of children living in food-insecure households were above the national average of 13% for those whose parents or guardians were Black, non-Hispanic (22%); those whose parents or guardians were Hispanic (19%); those whose parents or guardians lacked a high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) certificate (33%); those whose parents or guardians' highest level of education is high school/GED (19%); those whose parents or guardians' highest level of education is some college (18%); those living with a single mother (25%); and those living with a single father (16%).
• In 2021, the percentages of children living in food-insecure households were below the national average of 13% for those whose parents or guardians were White, non-Hispanic (8%); those whose parents or guardians' highest level of education is a bachelor's degree or higher (5%); those whose parents or guardians are married (8%); and those who live in the Northeast (10%).

 ECON3 HTML Table