Abstract
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Food insecurity in Australia is increasing, but a lack of consistent, regular monitoring and reporting of food insecurity using comprehensive, validated tools is limiting timely intervention.
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Regular monitoring is urgently needed from state/ territory and federal governments. Reporting of the prevalence of household food security needs to reflect levels of severity (marginal, moderate and severe food insecurity) in each state and territory across Australia.
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Commonly used short tools comprising one or two questions are inadequate for assessing the true prevalence of food insecurity and result in serious underestimation.
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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 18-item Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) should be adopted across settings to provide the most valid, internationally comparable data on food insecurity for both adults and children.
Publication Details
Williams, M., Kent, K., Sheriff, S., Kleve, S., Godrich, S., Murray, S., Mihrshahi, S., Millen, E., McKay, F., Lindberg, R., Charlton, K., Gallegos, D., Raven, M., Davison, J., Lee, A., Richards, C., Markham, F. & Franse, B. (2022). Household Food Security Data Consensus Statement. Australian Household Food Security Data Coalition (AHFSDC).