IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0274434.html

Food insecurity among African Americans in the United States: A scoping review

Author

Listed:
  • Elizabeth Dennard
  • Elizabeth Kristjansson
  • Nedelina Tchangalova
  • Sarah Totton
  • Donna Winham
  • Annette O’Connor

Abstract

In 2019, the estimated prevalence of food insecurity for Black non-Hispanic households was higher than the national average due to health disparities exacerbated by forms of racial discrimination. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Black households have experienced higher rates of food insecurity when compared to other populations in the United States. The primary objectives of this review were to identify which risk factors have been investigated for an association with food insecurity, describe how food insecurity is measured across studies that have evaluated this outcome among African Americans, and determine which dimensions of food security (food accessibility, availability, and utilization) are captured by risk factors studied by authors. Food insecurity related studies were identified through a search of Google Scholar, PubMed, CINAHL Plus, MEDLINE®, PsycINFO, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, and Web of Science™ (Clarivate), on May 20, 2021. Eligible studies were primary research studies, with a concurrent comparison group, published in English between 1995 and 2021. Ninety-eight relevant studies were included for data charting with 37 unique measurement tools, 115 risk factors, and 93 possible consequences of food insecurity identified. Few studies examined factors linked to racial discrimination, behaviour, or risk factors that mapped to the food availability dimension of food security. Infrequently studied factors, such as lifetime racial discrimination, socioeconomic status (SES), and income insecurity need further investigation while frequently studied factors such as age, education, race/ethnicity, and gender need to be summarized using a systematic review approach so that risk factor impact can be better assessed. Risk factors linked to racial discrimination and food insecurity need to be better understood in order to minimize health disparities among African American adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Suggested Citation

  • Elizabeth Dennard & Elizabeth Kristjansson & Nedelina Tchangalova & Sarah Totton & Donna Winham & Annette O’Connor, 2022. "Food insecurity among African Americans in the United States: A scoping review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(9), pages 1-16, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0274434
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274434
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0274434
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0274434&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0274434?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ana McCormick Myers & Matthew A. Painter, 2017. "Food insecurity in the United States of America: an examination of race/ethnicity and nativity," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(6), pages 1419-1432, December.
    2. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew P & Gregory, Christian A & Singh, Anita, 2020. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2019," Economic Research Report 327207, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Deokrye Baek, 2016. "The Effect of Public Transportation Accessibility on Food Insecurity," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 42(1), pages 104-134, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexis Millerschultz & Lawton Lanier Nalley & Brandon McFadden & Rodolfo Nayga & Wei Yang, 2025. "Required informational barriers to accessing groceries from food banks," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 17(1), pages 9-25, February.
    2. Katherine Consavage Stanley & Paige B. Harrigan & Elena L. Serrano & Vivica I. Kraak, 2021. "Applying a Multi-Dimensional Digital Food and Nutrition Literacy Model to Inform Research and Policies to Enable Adults in the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to Make Healthy Purchases in the Online Food Retail Ecosystem," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-25, August.
    3. Revenlie G. Galapin & Daisy B. Ibieza & Julius T. Vergara, 2025. "Assessing Financial Literacy Levels Among Small-Scale Farmers," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(14), pages 2059-2068, September.
    4. Drieda Zaҫe & Maria Luisa Di Pietro & Laura Reali & Chiara de Waure & Walter Ricciardi, 2021. "Prevalence, socio-economic predictors and health correlates of food insecurity among Italian children- findings from a cross-sectional study," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(1), pages 13-24, February.
    5. Christine Borger & Courtney Paolicelli & Lorrene Ritchie & Shannon E. Whaley & Jill DeMatteis & Brenda Sun & Thea Palmer Zimmerman & Amanda Reat & Sujata Dixit-Joshi, 2021. "Shifts in Sources of Food but Stable Nutritional Outcomes among Children in the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-14, November.
    6. Olutosin Ademola Otekunrin & Ridwan Mukaila & Oluwaseun Aramide Otekunrin, 2023. "Investigating and Quantifying Food Insecurity in Nigeria: A Systematic Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-38, September.
    7. Toossi, Saied, 2021. "COVID-19 Working Paper: Filling the Pandemic Meal Gap: Disruptions to Child Nutrition Programs and Expansion of Free Meal Sites in the Early Months of the Pandemic," Administrative Publications 327342, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    8. Denise Holston & Jessica Stroope & Matthew Greene & Bailey Houghtaling, 2020. "Perceptions of the Food Environment and Access among Predominantly Black Low-Income Residents of Rural Louisiana Communities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-14, July.
    9. Keumseok Koh & Michelle L. Kaiser & Glennon Sweeney & Karima Samadi & Ayaz Hyder, 2020. "Explaining Racial Inequality in Food Security in Columbus, Ohio: A Blinder–Oaxaca Decomposition Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-15, July.
    10. Lauren H. Sweeney & Kaley Carman & Elder G. Varela & Lisa A. House & Karla P. Shelnutt, 2021. "Cooking, Shopping, and Eating Behaviors of African American and Hispanic Families: Implications for a Culturally Appropriate Meal Kit Intervention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-10, September.
    11. Lauren A. Clay & Stephanie Rogus, 2021. "Impact of Employment, Essential Work, and Risk Factors on Food Access during the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York State," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-12, February.
    12. Alycia Santilli & Anna Lin-Schweitzer & Sofia I. Morales & Steve Werlin & Kim Hart & James Cramer & Jason A. Martinez & Kathleen O’Connor Duffany, 2022. "Coalition Building and Food Insecurity: How an Equity and Justice Framework Guided a Viable Food Assistance Network," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-14, September.
    13. Xu, Lei, 2024. "Household Food Waste Patterns: Exploring Categorical Price and Expenditure Elasticities Using a Demand System Approach," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343717, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. James P. Ziliak, 2021. "Recent Trends in the Material Well-Being of the Working Class in America," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 695(1), pages 70-91, May.
    15. Joel Berg & Angelica Gibson, 2022. "Why the World Should Not Follow the Failed United States Model of Fighting Domestic Hunger," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-14, January.
    16. Anita Borch & Unni Kjærnes, 2016. "The Prevalence and Risk of Food Insecurity in the Nordic Region: Preliminary Results," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 261-274, June.
    17. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Gregory, Christian A. & Singh, Anita, 2020. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2019," Agricultural Economic Reports 305691, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    18. Gundersen, Craig, 2021. "Viewpoint: A proposal to reconstruct the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into a universal basic income program for food," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    19. Isabel Maia & Ana Cristina Santos, 2022. "Prevalence and determinants of children self-reports of food insecurity: evidence from a Portuguese population-based birth cohort," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(2), pages 427-435, April.
    20. Ahmad Zia Wahdat & Samuel Polzin, 2025. "Of Storms and Fires: Understanding Heterogenous Relationship of Food Insufficiency and Disaster Displacement in the United States," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 375-398, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0274434. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.