Stubborn facts and shrinking data: consequences for child hunger

Public policy debates often unfold amidst a great deal of ideology and rhetoric. Yet, as John Adams famously said, “Facts are stubborn things”. Facts cut through the noise and can guide effective action. The recent study by Bao and Kim1 underscores how evidence can inform responses to a pressing public health challenge: child food insufficiency. Notably, food insufficiency is a narrower and more severe indicator than the broader concept of food insecurity. It measures whether households have had enough to eat in the past 7 days, effectively serving as a ‘canary in the coal mine’ that signals urgent deprivation. Inadequate food goes far beyond hunger and is linked to adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, increased risk of birth defects, cognitive impairments and mental illness.2

Bao and Kim analysed data from the US Census Household Pulse Survey to…

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