WASHINGTON - The Kerry campaign accused the Bush administration on Friday of delaying a government report that could show the number of starving Americans rose last year.

The U.S. Agriculture Department's annual Household Food Security report for 2003, considered by some as the most authoritative estimate of hunger in the United States, was supposed to be released around Oct. 28.

Nancy McNiff, a spokeswoman for USDA's Economic Research Service, which publishes the report, said it "was held for further review."

McNiff would not elaborate and referred further inquiries to the USDA's main press office. USDA said a date has not been set for the report to be released.

USDA spokeswoman Julie Quick said the department was allowing other agencies to review it first for accuracy.

Phil Singer, a spokesman for Democratic challenger John Kerry said: "Here's an example of the Bush 'see no evil, hear no evil' philosophy at work."

The Bush campaign did not immediately return a call for comment.

Last year, the USDA said 11.1 percent of American households could not afford enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle, up from 10.7 percent the year before. The report, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, is based on a survey of 50,000 households last December.

The report was published last year on Oct. 31 and the year before on Nov. 12.

Poverty is often linked to hunger and starvation. The Census Bureau reported in August that the number of poverty-stricken Americans rose by 1.3 million in 2003 to 35.9 million.

The USDA report focuses on food insecurity -- that is not having access to enough food for a healthy lifestyle. But it also addresses hunger.

The report said last year that in 2002 an estimated 3.8 million households in the United States (or 3.5 percent of U.S. households) went hungry, up from 3.3 percent in 2001.

© Copyright 2004 Reuters Ltd

###