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AmberWaves February 2003 > Features > Article > Survey

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How Food Secure Is Your Household?

These are the food security questions you would be asked if your household was selected by the Census Bureau for the annual food security survey. Mark your answers and see where your household would show up in the annual statistics.

Here are several statements that people have made about their food situation. For these statements please indicate whether the statement was often true, sometimes true, or never true for your household in the last 12 months.

 

Mark 1 response in each row

“We worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more.”

Often
true

Sometimes
true

Never
true

“The food that we bought just didn’t last and we didn’t have money to get more.”

Often
true

Sometimes
true

Never
true

“We couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals.”

Often
true

Sometimes
true

Never
true

In the last 12 months, did you or other adults in your ousehold ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals because there wasn’t enough money for food?

Yes

0

No (skip next question)

(if yes to previous question) How often did this happen?

Almost every month

Some months
but not every month

In only 1 or 2 months

In the last 12 months, did you ever eat less than you felt you should because there wasn’t enough money to buy food?

Yes

0

No

In the last 12 months, were you ever hungry but didn’t eat because you couldn’t afford enough food?

Yes

0

No

In the last 12 months, did you lose weight because you didn’t have enough money for food?

Yes

0

No

In the last 12 months, did you or other adults in your household ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn’t enough money for food?

Yes

0

No (skip next question)

(if yes to previous question) How often did this happen?

Almost every month

Some months
but not every month

In only 1 or 2 months

Now add up responses you marked in the shaded columns. _______
If your score is:
0-2 Your household was food secure throughout the entire year.
3-5 Your household was food insecure at some time during the year, but without hunger.
6-10 Your household was food insecure with hunger at some time during the year.

Note: An additional eight questions are asked about food conditions of children if there are any in the household, and appropriate adjustments are made in the scoring.

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