The Challenges of Measuring Food Insecurity Among Children and Adolescents in High-Income Countries

Children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of food insecurity because of the irreversible developmental damage it can cause, which can perpetuate the cycle of poverty and poor human development. Food insecurity is multi-dimensional and can negatively affect a person’s wellbeing. This chapter focuses on describing food insecurity among children and adolescents in developed countries. It summarises the current methods and tools used to measure food insecurity and discusses their benefits and challenges. Evidence from developed countries shows that food insecurity in children and adolescents is measured primarily by adult experiences and perceptions or based on household measurements. Current methods overlook children’s and adolescents’ experiences. Efforts are needed to understand and measure food insecurity in children and adolescents beyond the household or parental perspective. We conclude by recommending that policymakers secure international harmonisation of food insecurity metrics in order to capture nutritional status and vulnerability in accessing food at different levels (e.g., individual and household risk factors), dimensions (e.g., cognitive and physical), and time-points (e.g., food insecurity as a recurrent experience) while also capturing current and future risks of food inaccessibility.