. 2020 Oct 25;42(Suppl 1):107–117. doi: 10.1007/s10834-020-09715-7

Table 3.

Summary of findings and suggested areas of future research questions on food insecurity among low-income families

Topic	Findings	Suggested areas of future research questions
Measurement of food insecurity	• The Food Insecurity Index, proposed to assess the degree of food insecurity, found that low-income households without children experienced the most rapid increases in the depth and severity of food insecurity (Balistreri 2016) • Although White non-Hispanic households, with or without children, had lower food insecurity prevalence rates, they experienced steeper increases in both depth and severity throughout the last decade while Black non-Hispanic households, with and without children, were most likely to suffer food insecurity (Balistreri 2016)	• What is the depth and severity of food insecurity among vulnerable populations, particularly among those without children? • What are factors related to the degree of severity of food insecurity, beyond the commonly used socio-economic indicators such as food purchasing patterns and childhood food experiences and cultural variations in these factors?
Factors leading to food insecurity	• Regardless of socio-economic status, family food security was related to household assets. When faced with liquidity constraint and asset inadequacy, risk of food insecurity increased among low-income families, regardless of household income level (Chang et al. 2014; Guo 2011) • Food insecurity, resulted partly from the interaction between unstable income and nonstandard work schedules, was most pronounced in male- and female-headed households and weakest among married couples (Coleman-Jensen 2011) • Food security of rural Latino immigrant families was influenced by family characteristics (higher literacy and life skills), community environment (state of the local economy, embrace of diversity, affordable housing, and access to health care), cultural values (familism), as well as federal immigration policy (Sano et al. 2011) • Conditional cash transfers in rural Colombia increased the perception of food insecurity and subjective poverty among marginalized families (Morales-Martínez and Gori-Maia 2018)	• What is the role of economic volatility, market conditions, and policy changes in understanding the relationship between their family finances and food insecurity? • How can community-based resources (food banks) mitigate the severity of food insecurity? • How is the work form of household heads related to food insecurity, particularly among those who recently exited welfare to enter nonstandard work arrangements? • What is the effect of documentation status and immigration policy changes on food insecurity among low-income immigrant families? • Is the perception of food insecurity and subjective poverty long lasting with conditional cash transfers and what are the psychological effects of this on beneficiary parents and their children when compared to non-beneficiaries?
Food-related assistance programs	• Compared to metro households, a higher proportion of non-metro households received government food assistance (SNAP, WIC, free and/or reduced school meals, and related local and/or federal programs). This assistance gap widened even further, after the recession, when government resources were expanded (Nielsen et al. 2018) • Although participation in SNAP and WIC programs increased fruit and vegetable consumption significantly among disadvantaged families, exercise habits, family support, and willingness to adopt a healthy lifestyle played a bigger role in increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables. For some families, nutrition knowledge seemed to decrease actual intake of the same (Chang et al. 2015) • When households went without certain products considered survival (water, food), to keep the household together (soap, toilet paper), and products to “make do” (paper plates, dish soap), it resulted in stress, personal degradation, and in illegal activities (Fiese et al. 2014) • Resources in food-related assistance programs are not always allocated in a cost–benefit manner (Nielsen se al. 2018; Chang et al. 2015)	• Why does urban–rural disparity occur among food insecure families when attempting to access food? What are possible strategies that would enable food-insecure metro families to access food? • What is the impact of food assistance programs on the medium-term and long-term patterns of fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income families? • What is the impact of family income and food budgeting on families’ dietary habits as well as parental modeling and family food environment on fruit and vegetable intake? • Using qualitative studies to develop a more nuanced understanding, what are the nonfood needs of low-income households?

Topic

Findings

Suggested areas of future research questions

Measurement of food insecurity

• The Food Insecurity Index, proposed to assess the degree of food insecurity, found that low-income households without children experienced the most rapid increases in the depth and severity of food insecurity (Balistreri 2016)

• Although White non-Hispanic households, with or without children, had lower food insecurity prevalence rates, they experienced steeper increases in both depth and severity throughout the last decade while Black non-Hispanic households, with and without children, were most likely to suffer food insecurity (Balistreri 2016)

• What is the depth and severity of food insecurity among vulnerable populations, particularly among those without children?

• What are factors related to the degree of severity of food insecurity, beyond the commonly used socio-economic indicators such as food purchasing patterns and childhood food experiences and cultural variations in these factors?

Factors leading to food insecurity

• Regardless of socio-economic status, family food security was related to household assets. When faced with liquidity constraint and asset inadequacy, risk of food insecurity increased among low-income families, regardless of household income level (Chang et al. 2014; Guo 2011)

• Food insecurity, resulted partly from the interaction between unstable income and nonstandard work schedules, was most pronounced in male- and female-headed households and weakest among married couples (Coleman-Jensen 2011)

• Food security of rural Latino immigrant families was influenced by family characteristics (higher literacy and life skills), community environment (state of the local economy, embrace of diversity, affordable housing, and access to health care), cultural values (familism), as well as federal immigration policy (Sano et al. 2011)

• Conditional cash transfers in rural Colombia increased the perception of food insecurity and subjective poverty among marginalized families (Morales-Martínez and Gori-Maia 2018)

• What is the role of economic volatility, market conditions, and policy changes in understanding the relationship between their family finances and food insecurity?

• How can community-based resources (food banks) mitigate the severity of food insecurity?

• How is the work form of household heads related to food insecurity, particularly among those who recently exited welfare to enter nonstandard work arrangements?

• What is the effect of documentation status and immigration policy changes on food insecurity among low-income immigrant families?

• Is the perception of food insecurity and subjective poverty long lasting with conditional cash transfers and what are the psychological effects of this on beneficiary parents and their children when compared to non-beneficiaries?

Food-related assistance programs

• Compared to metro households, a higher proportion of non-metro households received government food assistance (SNAP, WIC, free and/or reduced school meals, and related local and/or federal programs). This assistance gap widened even further, after the recession, when government resources were expanded (Nielsen et al. 2018)

• Although participation in SNAP and WIC programs increased fruit and vegetable consumption significantly among disadvantaged families, exercise habits, family support, and willingness to adopt a healthy lifestyle played a bigger role in increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables. For some families, nutrition knowledge seemed to decrease actual intake of the same (Chang et al. 2015)

• When households went without certain products considered survival (water, food), to keep the household together (soap, toilet paper), and products to “make do” (paper plates, dish soap), it resulted in stress, personal degradation, and in illegal activities (Fiese et al. 2014)

• Resources in food-related assistance programs are not always allocated in a cost–benefit manner (Nielsen se al. 2018; Chang et al. 2015)

• Why does urban–rural disparity occur among food insecure families when attempting to access food? What are possible strategies that would enable food-insecure metro families to access food?

• What is the impact of food assistance programs on the medium-term and long-term patterns of fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income families?

• What is the impact of family income and food budgeting on families’ dietary habits as well as parental modeling and family food environment on fruit and vegetable intake?

• Using qualitative studies to develop a more nuanced understanding, what are the nonfood needs of low-income households?