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Hawaii Value:
Percentage of households unable to provide adequate food for one or more household members due to lack of resources
Hawaii Rank:
Additional Measures:
Appears In:
Percentage of households unable to provide adequate food for one or more household members due to lack of resources
US Value: 11.2%
Top State(s): New Hampshire: 6.2%
Bottom State(s): Arkansas: 16.6%
Definition: Percentage of households unable to provide adequate food for one or more household members due to lack of resources
Data Source and Years(s): U.S. Department of Agriculture, Household Food Security in the United States Report Series, 2020-2022
Suggested Citation: America's Health Rankings analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture, Household Food Security in the United States Report Series, United Health Foundation, AmericasHealthRankings.org, accessed 2024.
Food insecurity is an economic and social condition where one’s regular access to food is limited or uncertain. It differs from hunger in that hunger is a physiological feeling. Food insecurity is a complex problem and does not exist in isolation for low-income families. Many food-insecure families also struggle with disadvantages resulting from structural racism, lack of affordable housing, high medical costs and low wages.
Food insecurity has broad effects on health due to the mental and physical stress it places on the body and is associated with an increased risk of many chronic conditions, including diabetes, obesity and heart disease. Children are particularly susceptible to the negative impacts of food insecurity because their brains and bodies are still developing. Among children, food insecurity is associated with anemia, asthma, depression and anxiety, cognitive and behavioral problems and a higher risk of being hospitalized.
Health-related costs attributed to hunger were conservatively estimated at $160 billion nationally in 2014. Adding in poor educational outcomes brings the total to $178.9 billion. One study found that food-insecure families had annual health care expenditures nearly $2,500 higher than food-secure families.
The prevalence of food insecurity is higher among:
Programs that have been effective at reducing food insecurity by providing either cash or food assistance to those in need include:
Healthy People 2030 has an objective to reduce household food insecurity and hunger.
Gundersen, Craig, and James P. Ziliak. “Food Insecurity and Health Outcomes.” Health Affairs 34, no. 11 (November 1, 2015): 1830–39. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0645.
Palakshappa, Deepak, Arvin Garg, Alon Peltz, Charlene A. Wong, Rushina Cholera, and Seth A. Berkowitz. “Food Insecurity Was Associated With Greater Family Health Care Expenditures In The US, 2016–17: Study Examines the Relationship between Food Insecurity and Family Health Care Expenditures.” Health Affairs 42, no. 1 (January 1, 2023): 44–52. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00414.
Shrider, Emily A., and John Creamer. “Poverty in the United States: 2022.” Current Population Reports P60-280. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau, September 2023. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2023/demo/p60-280.pdf.
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