Food Insecurity Is an Ongoing National Concern
Food Insecurity Is an Ongoing National Concern
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DOI：
10.3945/an.112.003244
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发表时间：
2013-01-01
影响因子：
9.3
通讯作者：
Gundersen, Craig
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Gundersen, Craig
粮食不安全是当今美国面临的主要公共卫生挑战。这主要是由于问题的严重性，大约有5 000万人粮食无保障（即，他们不确定是否拥有或无法获得足够的食物，因为他们没有足够的钱或其他资源），以及与粮食不安全有关的严重的负面健康和其他后果。本文件界定了用于确定一个家庭是否粮食无保障的衡量标准。这项措施，即核心粮食安全模块，是根据有关家庭粮食状况的18个问题制定的。根据答复，家庭被定义为粮食安全、粮食安全程度低或粮食安全程度极低，后两类被定义为“粮食不安全”。“接下来，我将讨论美国粮食不安全的程度，以及粮食不安全的主要决定因素。用于解决粮食不安全问题的关键政策工具是补充营养援助方案（SNAP;以前称为食品券方案）。在目前的经济衰退期间，超过4 000万人参加了SNAP，总收益超过700亿美元。这使其成为美国最大的粮食援助计划和最大的近现金援助计划。在确定了资格标准后，我回顾了文献，这些文献证明了SNAP在解决其关键目标，即缓解美国粮食不安全方面的有效性。最后，我对SNAP如何保持甚至提高其缓解粮食不安全的有效性提出了4点建议。高级Nutr. 4：36-41，2013.
Food insecurity is a leading public health challenge in the United States today. This is primarily due to the magnitude of the problem, similar to 50 million persons are food insecure (i.e., they were uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food because they had insufficient money or other resources), and the serious negative health and other outcomes associated with being food insecure. This paper defines the measure used to delineate whether a household is food insecure. The measure, the Core Food Security Module, is based on 18 questions about a household's food situation. From the responses, a household is defined as food secure, low food secure, or very low food secure, with the latter 2 categories defined as "food insecure." I next discuss the extent of food insecurity in the US across various dimensions and the key determinants of food insecurity. The key policy tool used to address food insecurity is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; formerly known as the Food Stamp Program). During the current economic downturn, >40 million persons are enrolled in SNAP, with total benefits of >$70 billion. This makes it the largest food assistance program and the largest near-cash assistance program in the US. After defining the eligibility criteria, I review the literature, which has demonstrated the effectiveness of SNAP in addressing its key goal, namely the alleviation of food insecurity in the US. I conclude with 4 suggestions for how SNAP can maintain and even improve its effectiveness in alleviating food insecurity. Adv. Nutr. 4: 36-41, 2013.