Senior Hunger
The number of older adults is projected to increase over the next
decade and continue to rise in the following decade. In 2040 there will
be 79.7 million older adults, more than twice as many as in 2000.
Additionally, the senior population is becoming increasingly diverse.
Between 2012 and 2030, the white population of 65 and plus is projected
to increase by 54% compared with 125% of older minorities.
[i]
These changing demographics will have profound impacts on the
demand for social services, especially the need for adequate and
culturally appropriate nutrition services. Seniors may have unique
nutritional needs and challenges that separate them from the rest of the
population and must be considered.
Emergency Food Assistance [ii]
- Nearly 3 million elderly persons are served by Feeding America
each year. 18.6 percent of client households have at least one member
who is age 65 or over, and 52 percent of these households are food
insecure - an estimated 1.2 million households.
- Among all clients served by Feeding America, 8 percent were
seniors age 65 or over, while 14.2 percent of adult clients interviewed
at emergency feeding programs were age 65 or older.
- Among all client households with at least one senior, 10.5
percent use senior brown bag programs, 16.5 percent attend senior
nutrition sites (such as senior centers that serve lunch) and 6.6
percent receive home-delivered meals or meals-on-wheels.
- 30 percent of client households with seniors indicated that
they have had to choose between food and medical care and 35 percent had
to choose between food and paying for heat/utilities.
Food Insecurity
- In 2012, 2.8 million (8.8%) households with seniors
experienced food insecurity. 1.1 million (9.1%) households composed of
seniors living alone experience food insecurity. [iii]
- In 2011, 4.8 million Americans over the age of 60 were food insecure. This constitutes 8.4% of all seniors. [iv]
- The number of food insecure seniors is projected to increase
by 50% when the youngest of the Baby Boom Generation reaches age 60 in
2025. [v]
- Seniors are more likely to be food insecure if they : [vi]
- Live in a southern state
- Are younger
- Live with a grandchild
- Are African American
- Are Hispanic
For seniors, protecting oneself from food insecurity and hunger
is more difficult than for the general population. For example, a study
that focused on the experience of food insecurity among the elderly
population found that food insecure seniors sometimes had enough money
to purchase food but did not have the resources to access or prepare
food due to lack of transportation, functional limitations, or health
problems.
[vii]
Poverty
- In 2012, 9.1 percent of seniors (3.9 million older adults age 65 and older) lived below the poverty line. [viii]
- In 2011, under the Supplemental Poverty Measure, seniors make
up 12.6% of people in poverty as compared with 7.8% under the official
measure. [ix]
- In 2011, under the Supplemental Poverty Measure, medical out
of pocket expenses (MOOP) increase the poverty rate among seniors (8.0%
excluding MOOP, 12.6% including). [x]
Federal Nutrition Assistance
- Elderly households are much less likely to receive help
through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) than
non-elderly households, even when expected benefits are roughly the
same. [xi]
- Seniors require greater consideration towards their health and
medical needs that can become compromised when there is not enough food
to eat. A study which examined the health and nutritional status of
seniors found that food insecure seniors had significantly lower intakes
of vital nutrients in their diets when compared to their food secure
counterparts. In addition, food insecure seniors were 2.33 times more
likely to report fair/poor health status and had higher nutritional
risk. [xii]
[i] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Aging. (2012). A profile of Older Americans: 2012.
[ii] Cohen, R., J. Mabli,, F. Potter & Z. Zhao. (2010). Hunger in America 2010. Mathematica Policy Research, Feeding America.
[iv] Ziliak, J.P. & Gundersen, C. (2013.)
Spotlight on Food Insecurity among Senior Americans: 2011. National Foundation to End Senior Hunger (NFESH).
[vi] United States Department of Agriculture/Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation.
Elderly Participation and the Minimum Benefit. November 2002.
[vii]
Wolfe WS, Frongillo EA, Valois P. (2003). Understanding the experience
of food insecurity by elders suggests ways to improve its measurement.
J. Nutr. 133:2762-2769, 2003.
[xi]
Ziliak, J. & Gunderson, C. (2009, September). Senior Hunger in the
United States: Differences across states and rural and urban areas.
University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Special Reports.
Retrieved October 7, 2010.
[xii]
Lee JS, Frongillo, Jr. EA. (2001). Nutritional and health consequences
are associated with food insecurity among U.S. elderly persons. J.
Nutr. 131: 1503-1509, 2001
