Hunger Vital Sign Explainer Series

Hunger Vital Sign Questions:

“Within the past 12 months we worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more.” Often / Sometimes / Never True.


“ Within the past 12 months the food we bought just didn’t last and we didn’t have money to get more.” Often / Sometimes / Never True.

Hager, E. R., Quigg, A. M., Black, M. M., Coleman, S. M., Heeren, T., Rose-Jacobs, R., Cook, J. T., Ettinger de Cuba, S. E., Casey, P. H., Chilton, M., Cutts, D. B., Meyers A. F., Frank, D. A. (2010). Development and Validity of a 2-Item Screen to Identify Families at Risk for Food Insecurity. Pediatrics, 126(1), 26-32. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-3146.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles:

  • Original Children’s HealthWatch validation study of the Hunger Vital Sign™ for use among families with young children (2010)

See also all selected Hunger Vital Sign materials from Children’s HealthWatch.

Creation of the Hunger Vital Sign

Creating a Valid Tool

Audio & Transcript | Summary of Key Points

Related Materials:

Case Studies in Hunger Vital Sign Implementation

 

Frequently Asked Questions About Implementing Hunger Vital Sign

Vermont Case Study: Interview with Katy Davis at Hunger Free Vermont:

Partnering with Hunger Free Vermont

Audio & Transcript | Summary of Key Points

Conversations About Food Insecurity

Audio & Transcript | Summary of Key Points

The Bigger Picture

Audio & Transcript | Summary of Key Points

Children’s HealthWatch publications:

Recommended Publications:

 

Sample toolkits for Screening:

See also the tools at the UCSF Social Interventions Research & Evaluation Network (SIREN) resource library and report State of the Science on Social Screening in Health Care Settings (2022)

Ongoing Research on Food Insecurity Measurement

 

Accountable Health Communities Model - Katherine Verlander, CMS Innovation Center

25 Years of Food Security Measurement - Conference, April 4, 2022

The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy hosted a virtual conference on food security measurement to recognize 25 years of household food security measurement. The conference featured presentations on research supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with Tufts University and the University of Missouri.

Interview with Dr. Ana Poblacion & Richard Sheward

Audio & Transcript

This interview features research into the Validation of an Abbreviated Child and Adult Food Security Scale, presented as part of the April 4th conference.

Papers will appear in a special issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics (JAND).

25 Year of Food Security Measurement - Featured Research:

  • “Structural Violence and Food Security: Building a Framework to Expand Research and Measurement,” Chelsea Singleton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Tulane University

  • “Personal Food Security,” David Ribar, Georgia State University

  • “Measuring Food Insecurity in Latino Families: Expanding Understanding of their Experiences Through Exploratory Interviewing and Cognitive Testing,” Amanda McClain, San Diego State University

  • “Validation of an Abbreviated Child and Adult Food Security Scale (ACAFSS),” Ana Poblacion, Boston University School of Medicine

  • “Developing a Disaster Food Security Scale,” Lauren Clay, D’Youville College

  • “Validity Evidence for the Use of the USDA Adult Food Security Survey Module with American Indian and Alaska Native Adults,” Cassandra Nikolaus, Washington State University

Hunger Vital Sign National Community of Practice (NCoP)

Co-convened by Children’s HealthWatch and the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), the NCoP works to facilitate conversations and collective action among a wide-range of stakeholders interested in addressing food insecurity through a health care lens. The overarching goal and purpose of the NCoP is to rapidly share leading best practices and data on food insecurity screening/intervention activities and strategies to scale what works.

Quarterly virtual meetings facilitate a collaborative forum and a venue where multiple stakeholders gather to disseminate research and best practices, incubate innovative ideas, and most importantly, collaborate in sub-groups to inform and influence large-scale policy and practice change resulting in evidence-based innovations to alleviate food insecurity and improve population health outcomes.

  • To learn more about the Hunger Vital Sign™National Community of Practice, click here.

  • To join the Hunger Vital Sign™National Community of Practice, please contact Charlotte.Bruce(at)bmc.org.

Using the Hunger Vital Sign Explainer Series

This Hunger Vital Sign Explainer series highlights work by Children’s HealthWatch and the Hunger Vital Sign National Community of Practice. The original series was created in 2022 to offer training resources for Vermont health care practices interested in food insecurity screening (Vermont project description here). The content is created under a creative commons license to encourage adaptation and use for educational purposes. Please credit Bi-State Primary Care Association for the original production.

Podcast Script and Narration 

Interviews, script, and narration by Helen Labun (helen.labun@gmail.com) as part of the Policy in Plainer English podcast series.

Audio Editing and Post-Production Provided By Evergreen Audio

Audio editing and post-production by Evergreen Audio. Evergreen Audio is an independent production company that provides a full range of podcast production services. Find out more at their website.

Funding Source

The original Hunger Vital Sign series was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1,040,000 and as part of another award totaling $189,892; 0% is financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.