Nearly a quarter of Tri-State adults report they've been uncertain about where their next meal would come from at some point in the past year.
“It is a sobering thought to know that so many of our neighbors are either going hungry or very close to hunger,” said Dr. O’dell Moreno Owens, president/CEO of Interact for Health.
Twenty-four percent of respondents on Interact for Health's 2017 Community Health Status Survey agreed with one or both of these two statements:
- Within the past 12 months, we worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more.
- Within the past 12 months, the food we bought just didn’t last and we didn’t have money to get more.
Food insecurity may include reduced food intake or reduced quality and variety in diet. Adults and children who experience food insecurity are at increased risk for poor overall health and chronic diseases, Owens said.
“These questions were asked in a way that allowed respondents to answer confidentially, without fear of repercussion, thus giving us a true picture of what is happening," said Tony Fairhead, executive director of Childhood Food Solutions. "Face-to-face, parents and guardians cannot admit to running out of food for fear their children will be placed in foster care. They simply hope they won’t run out of food next month.”
The survey suggests food insecurity is closely linked to income. More than 6 in 10 adults earning 100 percent or less of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG) have experienced food insecurity in the past year, compared with 1 in 10 earning more than 200 percent FPG.
“And more than half of those in poverty said that at some point in the past year the food they had didn’t last and they didn’t have money to get more. That translates to more than 100,000 of our neighbors. For those with children, the worst days are non-school days when their food has to stretch to replace school meals," Fairhead said.
The percentage of adults who are food insecure is higher in certain areas within the region. About 3 in 10 adults living in the city of Cincinnati, Kentucky counties and rural Indiana are likely to be food insecure.
This compares with 2 in 10 adults in Hamilton County suburbs, suburban Ohio counties and rural Ohio counties.
Adults ages 65 and older are less likely than those younger than 65 to experience food insecurity. Nearly 3 in 10 adults younger than 65 answered yes to one or both questions, compared with fewer than 2 in 10 adults ages 65 and older.
African-American adults are nearly twice as likely as white adults to have experienced food insecurity in the last year.
More information about Greater Cincinnati adults’ food insecurity is available at the website here.
