Between 2005 and 2020, the number of children facing simultaneous water and food insecurity in the United States more than doubled. Additionally, Black and Hispanic children were several times more likely than white children to experience food and water insecurity at the same time. This is according to new research by Asher Rosinger, associate professor of biobehavioral health and anthropology at Penn State, and Sera Young, associate professor of anthropology at Northwestern University.
In a study in , the researchers examined water insecurity, food insecurity and their simultaneous occurrence among children in the United States. The researchers analyzed data from 18,252 children using the , a nationally representative assessment of health and nutrition conducted annually since 1999 and sporadically since the 1960s. Water insecurity or food insecurity—the lack of consistent, safe access to food or water—can be devastating to healthy growth, according to the researchers.
Water insecurity has been linked to problems with , physical health, nutrition and economic well-being. Food insecurity has been associated with poor mental health, diabetes, poor nutrition, obesity, cardiovascular disease and premature death. Around the world, food and water insecurity are often driven by poverty, inadequate access to resources and climate-related issues, according to the researchers.
In high-income nations like the U.S., food and water insecurity can be triggered by a range of circumstan.