A Scoping Review of Food Insecurity in Active Duty Military Families

Food insecurity affects a large portion of the United States population. Many subsets of the population are affected disproportionately, including active duty service members and their families. The unique challenges of military service can contribute to food insecurity and affect readiness, recruitment and retention. The overall goal of this scoping review is to identify all recent peer-reviewed literature related to food insecurity and active duty military families, aiming to identify recent literature and explore key areas including demographics, screening methods, risk factors, the relationship between food insecurity and mental health, available mitigation strategies, barriers to accessing support, and the impact on military readiness, recruitment, and retention.

This scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) Protocols 2020 statement. A search strategy was created to obtain all evidence relevant to food insecurity in active duty military families. A Boolean search was conducted from May 1, 2014 to May 1, 2024 within the databases PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Sciences.

Out of 159 articles, a total of 13 articles were included in the scoping review. The studies provided demographic trends, validated screening tool evaluation, determinants of unique military barriers and risk factors, association with mental health conditions, available mitigation strategies and the effects on readiness, recruitment and retention. Comparison with civilian data was identified to better define this at-risk community. In total, 106,363 active duty military families were represented in this review. The literature revealed food-insecure active duty military families were more likely to be junior enlisted, unmarried, single income households, high school as the highest level of education, include an unemployed spouse, and be a household with children. Associations with financial impact, spousal employment, and mental health were highlighted. Solutions for food insecurity included the utilization of resources, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Women, Infants, and Children. Impact on military readiness was also identified.

A large portion (27.7%) of U.S. active duty service members and their families are food insecure. Food insecurity has the potential to affect both mental and physical health, as well as readiness, recruitment and retention of service members. Continued research for this phenomenon and education of both medical providers and service members on available resources are integral to the mitigation of food insecurity in this vulnerable population.