Sydney, Oct 15 (IANS): Millions of Australian households are experiencing severe food insecurity, according to a report published on Tuesday by hunger relief charity Foodbank Australia.

The report said 3.4 million households across the country experienced food insecurity in the last 12 months. Of those, 2 million households experienced severe food insecurity.

Food insecurity is defined by the Australian government as whenever the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or the ability to acquire acceptable food in socially acceptable ways is limited or uncertain.

The annual Foodbank report found that 97 per cent of severely food-insecure households skipped meals or cut meal sizes and that half of adults experiencing severe food insecurity went entire days without eating due to affordability, Xinhua news agency reported.

Over 80 per cent of food-insecure households cited the rising cost of living as a factor.

"More than half of food-insecure households are now at the severe end of the food insecurity spectrum. For these families, it's not just about cutting back, it's about missing meals entirely, sometimes for days," Brianna Casey, chief executive of Foodbank Australia, said.

"This is no longer a crisis of temporary hardship but a prolonged, systemic issue affecting millions of Australians," she said. "These households live with the daily anxiety of not knowing where their next meal will come from, forced to choose between essentials like food, housing and utilities."

Among households that experienced severe food insecurity, 97 per cent worried about running out of food before having enough money to buy more and 93 per cent were unable to afford balanced meals.

One-quarter of food-insecure households reported having support from friends and family, down from one-third in 2023.