Food Insecurity Rate by County, All Persons, New Mexico, 2018

Why Is This Important?

Inconsistent access to adequate amounts of nutritious food can have a negative impact on the health of individuals of all ages. The USDA estimates that as of 2018, 326,000 people, including over 118,000 children, in New Mexico were food insecure. That means 1 in 6 individuals (15.1%) and 1 in 4 children (24%) lived in households without consistent access to adequate to adequate food. In the US, adults in food insecure households are much more likely than food secure adults to have hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic health problems. Although food insecurity is harmful to any individual, it can be particularly devastating among children because they are more vulnerable to potential long-term consequences for their future physical and mental health and academic achievement.

Definition

Food insecurity refers to USDA's measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Food insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a household's need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods.

Data Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, modeled and presented in the Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap Report.
  (http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america)
• New Mexico Population Estimates: University of New Mexico, Geospatial and Population Studies (GPS) Program.
  (http://gps.unm.edu/)

How the Measure is Calculated

Data Issues

Health Topic Pages Related to: Food Insecurity

• Economic Stability
• Neighborhood and Built Environment
• Nutrition
• Weight Status