Food insecurity among active duty soldiers and their families during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

Abstract

Objective:

We examined the determinants of food insecurity among active duty Army households that transitioned into food insecurity during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Design:

We compared Army households that recently transitioned into marginal food insecurity with those households that remained highly food secure ( n 2832) to better understand how these households differ in their resilience to food insecurity during economic downturns using data from a military installation in the USA in 2020.

Setting:

A US military installation in the USA.

Participants:

Active duty US Army soldiers.

Results:

Prior to the pandemic, the prevalence of marginal food insecurity among Army households was similar to that reported for households in the general population. Marginal food insecurity among Army households increased over 1·5-fold – from 19 % to 33 % – with the onset of the pandemic. Relative to Army households with consistently high food security, the Army households that transitioned into marginal food insecurity after the onset of the pandemic were more likely to report concerns about financial insecurity and the job security of their family members.

Conclusions:

Army households, like their civilian counterparts, are vulnerable to food insecurity because of instability in their income during periods of economic uncertainty. Periods of economic uncertainty are more common for Army households because of the frequent relocations associated with military service which could lead to predictable periodic spikes in their food insecurity.