Food Insecurity: A Growing Threat to Child Development.

Food Insecurity

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State mapping of food insecurity during Covid-19 [Map: D.Schanzenbach & N. Tomeh]

Food insecurity during Covid-19

In the United States, food insecurity rates increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, affecting millions of people. Food insecurity is a problem that is prevalent across many regions of the United States, as this map illustrates. Food insecurity is primarily a problem in southern states, which is represented by the dark purple color. Food insecurity is a significant problem in these states, with a prevalence as high as 30.8% of the residential population suffering from food insecurity. The United States is home to about 34 million people who are affected by food insecurity, of which approximately 9 million are children.

Poverty during Covid-19

In a sense, the purple map is a close representation of the following orange map which highlights the extent to which poverty prevails in different areas of the United States of America. The results of this study show that food insecurity is more prevalent among those living in poverty, and that food insecurity and poverty are both highly prevalent in the southern hemisphere of the United States.

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State mapping of poverty in 2020 [Map:CDC]