Trends in children's food insufficiency in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic

Children's food insufficiency is a severe form of food-related hardship that may have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using near real-time data from the Household Pulse Survey, this study analyzes trends in children's food insufficiency in the United States during the pandemic period from June 2020 to December 2021. The results indicate that children's low food sufficiency sharply increased in mid-July and early December 2020 and decreased with the third Economic Impact Payments rollout in early January 2021. This decrease suggests the payments' potential to improve children's food sufficiency. Comparatively, the status of children with very low food sufficiency has remained stable throughout the pandemic.