Food Security
Food insecurity refers to the social and economic problem of lack of food due to resource
or other constraints. It is experienced when there is uncertainty about future food
availability and access, insufficiency in the amount and kind of food required for
health, and/or the need to use socially unacceptable ways to acquire food.
Current Novel Research Efforts
How children experience food insecurity and how to assess it in children.
Why food insecurity is so strongly associated with poor health and development outcomes.
The ways in which social and economic contexts place households at risk of food insecurity
and affect the potential to benefit from programs designed to alleviate food insecurity.
The cumulative impact of food insecurity over the life course.
How systems science can help identify opportunities to improve responses to food
insecurity.
The role of food insecurity in the development of obesity, HIV, and chronic disease
such as diabetes.
Alleviating food insecurity in seniors.
Associated Affiliate Scholars
Bell, Bethany, Ph.D.
Blake, Christine, Ph.D., RD
Draper, Carrie, MSW Fram, Maryah, Ph.D., MSW Frongillo, Edward, Ph.D. Jones, Sonya, Ph.D. Kaczynski, Andrew T., Ph.D. Liese, Angela, Ph.D. Moran, Robert, Ph.D. Probst, Jan C., Ph.D.
Walsemann, Katrina, Ph.D.
Warren, Andrea, Ph.D. Younginer, Nicholas, Ph.D.
Expand all Affiliate Publications
Burke MP, Jones SJ , Frongillo EA , Blake CE , Fram MS . Parenting styles are associated with overall child dietary quality within low-income
and food-insecure households. Public Health Nutrition doi.org/10.1017/S1368980019001332, 2019.
Conroy AA, Cohen MH, Frongillo EA , Tsai AC, Wilson TE, Wentz EL, Adimora AA, Merenstein D, Ofotokun I, Metsch L, Adedimeji
A, Turan JM, Tien PC, Weiser SD. Food insecurity and violence in a prospective cohort of women at risk for or living
with HIV in the U.S. PLoS One 6;14(3):e0213365, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213365., 2019.
Frongillo EA . Advancing knowledge of how and why food insecurity is associated with poor well-being
in families and individuals across the life course. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 119:1621, 2019.
Martínez-Jaikel T, Frongillo EA, Blake CE, Fram MS , Esquivel-Solís V. Reducing Both Food Insecurity and Excess Body Weight in Costa Rican Women: A Cluster
Randomized Trial. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2020. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2019.11.021.
Murillo-Castillo KD, Frongillo EA , Corella-Madueño MA, Quizán-Plata T. Food Insecurity Was Associated with Lower Fruits and Vegetables Consumption but Not
with Overweight and Obesity in Children from Mexican Fishing Communities. Ecology of Food and Nutrition. November 2020:1-16. doi:10.1080/03670244.2020.1737042.
Nguyen HT, Frongillo EA, Blake CE, Shapiro CJ , Frith AL. Earlier and concurrent food insecurity are associated with suboptimal parenting in
early childhood. Journal of Nutrition doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxaa073, 2020.
Rosemond TN , Blake CE , Shapiro CJ , Burke MP, Bernal J, Adams EJ, Frongillo EA . Disrupted relationships, chaos, and altered family meals in food-insecure households:
Experiences of caregivers and children. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2019.05.005, 2019.
Sharpe PA, Bell BA, Liese AD, Wilcox S , Stucker J, Hutto BE. Effects of a food hub initiative in a disadvantaged community: A quasi-experimental
evaluation. Health & Place. 2020;63:102341. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2020.102341.
Whittle HJ, Leddy AM, Shieh J, Tien PC, Ofotokun I, Adimora AA, Turan JM, Frongillo EA , Turan B, Weiser SD. Precarity and health: Theorizing the intersection of multiple material-need insecurities,
stigma, and illness among women in the United States. Social Science & Medicine 245 : doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112683, 2019
Whittle HJ, Wolfe WR, Sheira LA, Frongillo EA , Palar K, Merenstein D, Wilson TE, Adedimeji A, Cohen MH, Wentz EL, Tien PC, Weiser
SD. Associations between food insecurity and psychotropic medication use among women living
with HIV in the United States. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences. 2020;29. doi:10.1017/s2045796020000232.
Research Labs, Centers, & Organizations
Community Related Organizations