Household Hardships, Public Programs, and Their Associations with the Health and Development of Very Young Children: Insights from Children’s Health Watch

Food insecurity, a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food for all household members to live an active

and healthy life, is a serious public health problem in the US. This problem waxes and wanes with fluctuations in public policies and economic climate. While the prevalence of household food insecurity has remained fairly stable over the past 2 years, the increase in 2008, the first full year of the recession, was the largest since the national food security survey began in 19951 and has not returned to pre-2008 levels.