Table 1.
Characteristics of study households by food security status (n 423); Midlands Family Study, South Carolina, USA, April 2011–May 2013
| FS (n 128) | FI (n 158) | VLFS-C (n 137) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | % or Mean | sd | % or Mean | sd | % or Mean | sd |
| African American (%) | 68·8 | – | 77·2 | – | 89·1 | – |
| Living in an urban area (%) | 58·6 | – | 46·8 | – | 70·1 | – |
| Number of children in the household (%) | ||||||
| 1 | 34·4 | – | 40·5 | – | 30·7 | – |
| 2 | 35·9 | – | 38·0 | – | 33·6 | – |
| 3 or more | 29·7 | – | 21·5 | – | 35·8 | – |
| Number of adults in the household (%) | ||||||
| 1 | 38·3 | – | 46·2 | – | 49·6 | – |
| 2 | 48·4 | – | 36·1 | – | 39·4 | – |
| 3 or more | 13·3 | – | 17·7 | – | 11·0 | – |
| Monthly wages ($US) | 2226·0 | 2556·8 | 1201·0 | 1390·4 | 786·2 | 903·2 |
| Monthly SNAP allotment ($US) | 263·1 | 278·2 | 265·3 | 226·1 | 281·2 | 249·8 |
| Monthly other assistance ($US) | 426·7 | 742·8 | 500·3 | 1052·3 | 437·2 | 574·2 |
| Monthly mortgage/rent expenses ($US) | 472·2 | 370·8 | 367·6 | 292·5 | 368·4 | 277·9 |
| Monthly transportation expenses ($US) | 121·0 | 203·6 | 112·9 | 179·0 | 50·7 | 119·4 |
| Monthly utilities expenses ($US) | 362·4 | 213·8 | 351·3 | 232·6 | 322·7 | 254·9 |
| Health-care expenses over $US 2000 in past year (%) | 33·6 | – | 21·5 | – | 19·7 | – |
| CHAOS* | 3·1 | 2·8 | 4·2 | 2·9 | 5·5 | 3·7 |
| Perceived social support† | 17·4 | 3·3 | 15·9 | 3·5 | 14·1 | 4·2 |
| Negative life events‡ | 8·9 | 7·8 | 13·9 | 9·6 | 18·7 | 11·0 |
| Perceived stress§ | 10·8 | 5·6 | 14·3 | 5·9 | 16·1 | 5·8 |
| Intrinsic religiosity|| | 12·5 | 3·1 | 13·5 | 1·9 | 12·9 | 2·8 |
| Homeless in the past year (%) | 21·1 | – | 27·9 | – | 44·5 | – |
FS, food secure; FI, food insecure; VLFS-C, very low food security among children; SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; CHAOS, Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale.
Bold font indicates that the difference by food security group is significant based on the t test for continuous variables and the χ 2 test for categorical variables (P<0·05).
Ranges from 0 to 14, the larger the score, the more chaotic the home environment.
Ranges from 3 to 21, the larger the score, the better the social support.
Ranges from 0 to 57, the higher the score, the more negative life events.
Ranges from 0 to 30, the larger the score, the more severe the perceived stress.
Ranges from 3 to 15, the larger the score, the more frequent religious activity.