Study: Food insecurity dropped during pandemic

Through government programs that included the expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), food insecurity among U.S. adults with low incomes dropped by nearly 5% during the pandemic but rose by 2022, according to a study today in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Source: “Study: Food insecurity in US dropped during pandemic,” CIDRAP News Brief, Jan. 2).
 
The findings were based on results from the 2019, 2021, and 2022 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a nationally representative survey from the National Center for Health Statistics; 2020 was excluded due to pandemic-related restrictions on conducting the survey.
 
The researchers found the prevalence of food insecurity decreased from 34.6% in 2019 to 21.6% in 2021. Food insecurity among SNAP participants rose again in 2022 (though not to pre-pandemic levels), to 27.0%.
 
The findings were counter to the hypothesis that the pandemic would have increased food insecurity. Instead, child tax credits, stimulus checks, and SNAP expansion provided a buffer for low-income adults.