This number looks a lot scarier than it is. Food "insecurity" is an arbitrary threshold based largely on how people feel. Based on the same data, children very rarely go hungry in America.
0.6% of children skipped a single meal in a 12 month period.
0.9% of children got hungry at least once in a 12 month period.
alternatively, you and your children are considered insecure if in a 12 month period they answer yes to the following:
A parent lost weight
Adult(s) cut size or skipped meals in 3 or more months
Relied on few kinds of low-cost food to feed child(ren)
Here is the actual USDA survey data that supports that fact:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10995-021-03320-2
more background:
https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/fo...
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/313486/