Last year, 17.5 million American families, or over 14 percent of all households, experienced food insecurity at some point during the year, meaning they weren’t able to afford adequate food, according to the latest report from the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

More than 49 million people lived in those households, including 15.8 million children. While a majority of households that experienced food insecurity were able to keep eating by relying on very basic foods, 6.8 million households had at least one family member who had to eat less because they couldn’t afford food, or in other words had very low food security. About 765,000 children lived in those low security households.

Food insecurity doesn’t necessarily last continuously throughout the year; usually it is periodic but not chronic. Yet for three-quarters of food insecure households, it was a recurring event, happening in three or more months of the year. Food insecure families and those with very low food security experienced those conditions on average in seven months of the year. And for a quarter of food insecure households, it was a frequent or chronic situation, happening almost every month.

While parents often reduce their own diets to shield their children, about half of food insecure families who had children, or 3.8 million households, weren’t able to protect the kids. In 360,000 households, children experienced such severe insecurity that they were hungry, skipped a meal, or didn’t eat for an entire day.

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