INSTRUCTIONS:
I’m going to read you two statements that people have made about their food situation. Please tell mewhether the statement was OFTEN‚ SOMETIMES‚ or NEVER true for (you/you and the other members of your household) in the last 12 months.
1. The first statement is‚ “The food that (I/we) bought just didn’t last‚ and (I/we) didn’t have money to get more.” Was that often‚ sometimes‚ or never true for (you/your household) in the last 12 months?
[1] Often true
[2] Sometimes true
[3] Never true
[Don’t know‚ Refused]
2. “(I/we) couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals.” Was that often‚ sometimes‚ or never true for (you/your household) in the last 12 months?
[1] Often true
[2] Sometimes true
[3] Never true
[DK‚ R]
3. In the last 12 months‚ since (date 12 months ago) did (you/you or other adults in your household) ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals because there wasn’t enough money for food?
[1] Yes
[2] No
[DK‚ R]
If any of the first three questions are answered affirmatively (Q1‚ Q2 = Often true‚ Sometimes true; Q3 = Yes)‚ proceed to the next 3 questions. Otherwise‚ skip the next 3 questions.
4. How often did this happen --almost every month‚ some months but not every month‚ or in only 1 or 2 months?
[1] Almost every month
[2] Some months but not every month
[3] Only 1 or 2 months
[DK‚ R]
5. In the last 12 months‚ did you ever eat less than you felt you should because there wasn’t enough money to buy food?
[1] Yes
[2] No
[DK‚ R]
6. In the last 12 months‚ were you ever hungry but didn’t eat because you couldn’t afford enough food?
[1] Yes
[2] No
[DK‚ R]
· Food security
· Food insecurity
This instrument can be found on pages 134-136 of Latino Families and Youth: A Compendium of Assessment Tools‚ available online at: http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=23171&Itemid=
The sum of the affirmative responses yields the following categories:
0-1 = Food secure
2-4 = Food insecure without hunger
5-6 = Food insecure with hunger
Bickel‚ G.‚ Nord‚ M. Price‚ C.‚ Hamilton‚ W.‚ & Cook‚ J. (2000). Measuring food security in the United States: Guide to measuring household food security. U.S. Department of Agriculture‚ Food and Nutrition Service‚ Alexandria VA. http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsec/FILES/FSGuide.pdf
Harrison‚ G. G.‚ Stormer‚ A.‚ Herman‚ D. R.‚ & Winham‚ D. M. (2003). Development of a Spanish-language version of the U.S. Household Food Security Survey module. The Journal of Nutrition‚ 133(4)‚ 1192-1197.