Accurate measurement of household food security is essential to generate adequate information on the proportion of households experiencing food insecurity, especially in regions vulnerable to food shortages and famine. This paper offers a methodological examination of three commonly used indicators of household food security—experience of hunger, dietary diversity and coping strategies. Making use of data from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in rural South Africa, we examine the association between the indicators themselves to improve understanding of the different insight offered by each food-security “lens.” We also examine how the choice of indicator shapes the profile of vulnerable households, with results suggesting that dietary diversity scores may not adequately capture broader food insecurity. The concluding discussion explores programmatic and policy implications as related to methodological choices.

准确衡量家庭粮食安全对获取有关遭受粮食不安全的家庭比例的充分信息至关重要，特别是在那些容易遭受粮食短缺和饥荒的地区。本文对家庭粮食安全的三个常用指标进行了方法学考察，即饥饿，饮食多样性和应对策略。利用来自南非农村地区阿金库尔（Agincourt）健康和人口监视站点的数据，我们研究了指标本身之间的关联，以增进对每个粮食安全“镜头”所提供的不同见解的理解。我们还研究了指标的选择如何影响弱势家庭的形象，结果表明，饮食多样性评分可能不足以捕获更广泛的粮食不安全状况。