Table 3.
Measures of food security in the United States (2022).
| Measure | Description |
|---|---|
| Anthropometric measures | Measures bodily characteristics such as height, weight, skinfold, etc. (combined with weight and age) to assess the utilization of food [5] |
| Coping Strategies Index (CSI) | Measures the frequency and severity of context specific behaviors taken in response to food insecurity [5] |
| Domestic Food Price Volatility | Measures the variability in the annual food price index [5] |
| Food Consumption Score (FCS) | Measures the quality, quantity, and diversity of foods consumed by a household in the last seven days [70] |
| Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) | Measures the severity of food insecurity in population groups based off individual or household level data [68] |
| Global Food Security Index (GFSI) | Measures the affordability, availability, quality, resiliency, and safety of available foods in given nations [15] |
| Global Hunger Index (GHI) | Measures rates of undernourishment, underweight children, and child mortality at the national level to assess hunger [68,70] |
| Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCES) | Measures a variety of household socioeconomic conditions affecting food security such as food acquisition and consumption [5] |
| Household Dietary Diversity Scores (HDDS) | Measures the number of food groups (grains, starches, vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, fish, legumes, dairy, fats, sugar, condiments, etc.) consumed by an individual or household in the previous 24 h [71] |
| Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) | Measures the frequency and intensity of challenges that households face in accessing food [71] |
| Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) | Measures the prevalence of food insecurity among households in the United States [49] |
| Household Pulse Survey (HPS) | Measures household sufficiency of food in the last 7 days, 2 weeks, or month based off a single question [26,28] |
| Months of Adequate Food Provisioning (MAHFP) | Measures a household’s stability in maintaining adequate levels of food in the past year [5,71] |
| Prevalence of Undernourished (PoU) | Measures the percentage of a country’s population whose typical food intake is below the levels needed for an active and healthy life using national estimates [68,72] |
| Relative Dietary Supply Index | Compares the available dietary energy supply in a country with that country’s average caloric needs [5] |
| Sustainable Nutrition Security (SNS) | Incorporates metrics of sustainability [73] |
| Women’s Empowerment Nutrition Grid (WEN or WENI) | Incorporate agency, alongside knowledge and resources, as dimensions of empowerment with respect to food security [37,74,75] |
Note: The table gives measures and their descriptions of food security in the United States.