When analyzing food insecurity, it is not enough to know the duration of the problem that people are experiencing, but also how intense or severe the impact of the identified problem is on the overall food security and nutrition status. This knowledge will influence the nature, extent and urgency of the assistance needed by affected population groups. Different ‘scales’ or ‘phases’ to ‘grade’ or ‘classify’ food security have been developed by food security analysts using different indicators and cut-off points or ‘benchmarks’. Examples include: Measuring the Severity of Undernourishment