The USDA uses the term “food insecurity” to describe households that had difficulty providing food to all of their members because of a lack of resources.
This might mean there’s a constant worry that food will run out, that the food they purchased didn’t last and they couldn’t afford more, or that household members skipped or cut back on meals because there wasn’t enough money to buy food.
Food insecurity has been linked to increased risk of such chronic diseases as kidney disease, hypertension, stroke, cancer and arthritis in adults and obesity.
Studies of the effect of food insecurity on children suggest they have an increased risk of asthma, obesity, and developmental and social disability.
