Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct;26(10):1968-1975.
doi: 10.1017/S1368980023001738. Epub 2023 Aug 11.

Use of food distribution resources among military families with young children since the COVID-19 pandemic

Catherine W O'Neal  1 , Mallory Lucier-Greer  2 , Crystal Lewis  3 , Meredith Farnsworth  4
Affiliations

Use of food distribution resources among military families with young children since the COVID-19 pandemic

Catherine W O'Neal et al. Public Health Nutr. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: The present study examined military families' use of food distribution resources and military (e.g. rank) and non-military (e.g. race/ethnicity) characteristics associated with using food distribution resources.

Design: Secondary data analyses from a cross-sectional survey in the first 6 months of 2021.

Setting: A national sample of eligible families completed an online survey.

Participants: 8326 enlisted military families with an active duty service member in the United States Army or Air Force who applied for supplemental childcare funding distributed by National Military Family Association.

Results: 13·2 % of the families reported utilising a food distribution resource in the past 12 months. Those with lower financial well-being were more likely to utilise such resources. Older (OR = 1·04, 95 % CI = 1·02, 1·05, P < 0·001), single-earner (OR = 0·73, 95 % CI = 0·61, 0·89, P = 0·001) families with a lower rank (OR = 0·69, 95 % CI = 0·64, 0·75, P < 0·001) and Army affiliation (compared with Air Force) (OR = 2·31, 95 % CI = 2·01, 2·67, P < 0·001) were more likely to utilise food distribution resources. Members of certain racial/ethnic minority groups were more likely to utilise food distribution resources than White respondents (OR from 1·47 for multi-racial to 1·69 for Asians), as were families with more dependent children (OR = 1·35, 95 % CI = 1·25, 1·47, P < 0·001).

Conclusions: These results identify the extent of food distribution resource utilisation in military families with young children approximately 1 year into the COVID-19 pandemic. The results also identify characteristics associated with their use of food distribution resources. Findings are discussed with an emphasis on prevention and intervention implications for military families.

Keywords: Community sample; Family; Food distribution resources; Military.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Wax SG & Stankorb SM (2016) Prevalence of food insecurity among military households with children 5 years of age and younger. Public Health Nutr 19, 2458–2466. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Johnson AD & Markowitz AJ (2018) Food insecurity and family well-being outcomes among households with young children. J Pediatr 196, 275–282. - PubMed
    1. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2022) Definitions of Food Insecurity. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-... (accessed November 2022).
    1. Ahn S & Norwood FB (2021) Measuring food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic of spring 2020. Appl Econ Perspect Policy 43, 162–168.
    1. Gundersen C & Ziliak JP (2015) Food insecurity and health outcomes. Health Aff 34, 1830–1839. - PubMed