For most Americans, poverty means insufficient access to housing, clothing, and nutritious food that meet their needs for a healthy life. A consequence of poverty is a low socioeconomic status which leads to being exposed to poor nutrition. Because food and dietary choices are influenced by income, poverty and nutrition go hand in hand. There are many important factors that threaten the nutritional status of poor people. The main factor is not having enough money to buy good quality and quantity food. Not having enough money can have a profound impact on the diet of low-income people. Limited financial resources can force low-income people to make difficult decisions about what type and how much food to buy. Limited financial resources often lead to food insecurity. According to Gundersen, Waxman, Engelhard, and Brown (2011) food insecurity is the lack of access to healthy food in quantity or quality. Poverty is considered the main cause of food insecurity. Household food security depends on access to food. America has access to good, healthy food. However, a family too poor to purchase them does not enjoy food security. Rosenbaum and Neuberger (2005) report that the number of people using government food assistance programs is growing each year. “Food stamps target those who have the greatest need for help purchasing food… [and] help reduce the scope and severity of poverty (Rosenbaum and Neuberger 2005).” Gundersen, Waxman, Engelhard, and Brown (2010) found in their study showed that in 2010, 50 million people (including 17 million children) were food insecure. Poverty and food insecurity affect the lives of billions of people around the world and millions of people in the United States. More than two billion pe...... half of paper ......physical activity. Childhood Trends 2 (3): 1-9. Retrieved from http://www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends_2011_07_25_ECH_HealthyEating.pdfPowell, L.M., Slater, S., Mirtcheva, D., Bao, Y., & Chaloupka, F.J. (2007). Availability of grocery stores and neighborhood characteristics in the United States. Preventive Medicine, 44, 189-195. Rosenbaum, D. & Neuberger, Z. (2005, August 17). Food and nutrition programs: reduce hunger and strengthen nutrition. Retrieved from http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=510United Nations Children's Fund. (2012). Nutrition: what is the role of nutrition? Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_role.htmlUnited State Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2010, December). Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, 7th Edition, retrieved from http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuideli