美国真的有六分之一人口挨饿吗？ 望自远方2015-04-22 02:39:57
这个六分之一是怎么来的呢， 实际上这是根据美国农业部的调查统计得来的。但是要明白这数字的意义，一定要首先搞明白统计的定义和收集数据的方法。来看看美国农业部（USDA)有关这个统计的定义。首先，USDA的统计里没有用到‘饥饿’（Hunger）这个词， 而是用的Food Insecurity （食物无保障）。这两个词的概念区别在哪里？
Food Insecurity 是指一个家庭有限或不确定获取足够食物的一种经济和社会状态；
Hunger 是指个人的，可能由Food Insecurity引起的一种身体状态。
USDA 把Food Security分为四类：
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High food security—Households had no problems, or anxiety about, consistently accessing adequate food.
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Marginal food security—Households had problems at times, or anxiety about, accessing adequate food, but the quality, variety, and quantity of their food intake were not substantially reduced.
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Low food security—Households reduced the quality, variety, and desirability of their diets, but the quantity of food intake and normal eating patterns were not substantially disrupted.
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Very low food security—At times during the year, eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and food intake reduced because the household lacked money and other resources for food.
每一年USDA以问卷方式对45000个家庭进行统计调查得出数据，请注意所有问题都是相对于过去十二个月而言。以下是2013年的统计结果：
1. "We worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
2. "The food that we bought just didn't last and we didn't have money to get more." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
3. "We couldn't afford to eat balanced meals." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
4. In the last 12 months, did you or other adults in the household ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals because there wasn't enough money for food? (Yes/No)
5. (If yes to question 4) How often did this happen--almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months?
6. In the last 12 months, did you ever eat less than you felt you should because there wasn't enough money for food? (Yes/No)
7. In the last 12 months, were you ever hungry, but didn't eat, because there wasn't enough money for food? (Yes/No)
8. In the last 12 months, did you lose weight because there wasn't enough money for food? (Yes/No)
9. In the last 12 months did you or other adults in your household ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food? (Yes/No)
10. (If yes to question 9) How often did this happen--almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months?
(Questions 11-18 were asked only if the household included children age 0-17)
11. "We relied on only a few kinds of low-cost food to feed our children because we were running out of money to buy food." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
12. "We couldn't feed our children a balanced meal, because we couldn't afford that." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
13. "The children were not eating enough because we just couldn't afford enough food." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
14. In the last 12 months, did you ever cut the size of any of the children's meals because there wasn't enough money for food? (Yes/No)
15. In the last 12 months, were the children ever hungry but you just couldn't afford more food? (Yes/No)
16. In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever skip a meal because there wasn't enough money for food? (Yes/No)
17. (If yes to question 16) How often did this happen--almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months?
18. In the last 12 months did any of the children ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food? (Yes/No)