Table 1.

Characteristics of respondents National Survey of Children’s Health, 2017–2020 (n 114 709)

	Full sample n	%	Food secure n	%	Mild food insecurity n	%	Moderate to severe food insecurity n	%	P
Household food security
Food secure	85 365	74·42	–		–		–
Mild food insecurity	25 389	22·13	–		–		–
Moderate to severe food insecurity	3955	3·45	–		–		–
Parent/caregiver’s educational attainment									< 0·0001
> High school	97 774	85·24	76 214	89·28	18 991	74·80	2569	64·96
High school/vocational trade	14 300	12·47	7735	9·06	5439	21·42	1126	28·47
< High school	2635	2·3	1416	1·66	959	3·78	260	6·57
Born in the USA									< 0·0001
Yes	111 066	96·82	82 510	96·66	24 719	97·36	3837	97·02
No	3643	3·18	2855	3·34	670	2·64	118	2·98
Race/Ethnicity									< 0·0001
Non-Hispanic White	79 063	68·92	61 014	71·47	15 933	62·76	2116	53·50
Non-Hispanic Black	6966	6·07	4201	4·92	2207	8·69	558	14·11
Non-Hispanic Asian	5689	4·96	4774	5·59	825	3·25	90	2·28
Hispanic	13 956	12·17	9153	10·72	4078	16·06	725	18·33
Other	9035	7·88	6223	7·29	2346	9·24	466	11·78
Federal poverty level (%)									< 0·0001
≥ 350	55 741	48·59	50 300	58·92	5206	20·50	235	5·94
200–349	27 553	24·02	18 797	22·02	8053	31·72	703	17·77
100–199	18 379	16·02	9715	11·38	7239	28·51	1425	36·03
0–99	13 036	11·36	6553	7·68	4891	19·26	1592	40·25
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation									< 0·0001
No	102 275	89·16	80 391	94·17	19 881	78·31	2003	50·64
Yes	12 434	10·84	4974	5·83	5508	21·69	1952	49·36
Cash assistance receipt									< 0·0001
No	111 610	97·3	83 832	98·20	24 189	95·27	3589	90·75
Yes	3099	2·7	1533	1·80	1200	4·73	366	9·25
Free meal receipt									< 0·0001
No	90 670	79·04	74 167	86·88	15 136	59·62	1367	34·56
Yes	24 039	20·96	11 198	13·12	10 253	40·38	2588	65·44
General health									< 0·0001
Excellent/very good	105 627	92·08	80 636	94·46	21 914	86·31	3077	77·80
Good/fair/poor	9082	7·92	4729	5·54	3475	13·69	878	22·20
Children with special needs									< 0·0001
No	88 025	76·74	67 564	79·15	18 066	71·16	2395	60·56
Yes	26 684	23·26	17 801	20·85	7323	28·84	1560	39·44
Age (years)									< 0·0001
≤ 5	32 625	28·44	24 975	29·26	6669	26·27	981	24·80
6–11 years	41 578	36·25	30 425	35·64	9623	37·90	1530	38·69
12–17 years	40 506	35·31	29 965	35·10	9097	35·83	1444	36·51