3.5M Kids Under 5 On Verge Of Going Hungry
An estimated 3.5 million children under the age of 5 are at risk of hunger in the United States, according to a look at government numbers by an anti-hunger group.
That's more than 17 percent of children who could suffer cognitive and developmental damage if they are not properly fed.
The not-for-profit advocacy group Feeding America based its findings on 2005-2007 data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Agriculture Department. The study, released Thursday, is the first to look at these numbers for children under the age of 5, according to the group.
The study also shows that in 11 states, more than 20 percent of children under 5 are at risk of going hungry. Louisiana has the highest rate, with just under a quarter of children at risk, followed by North Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Idaho and Arkansas.
According to the Agriculture Department, 11 percent of households lacked enough food for an active, healthy life, before the economy worsened late last year.
The study looks at a range of children who are at risk, from those who have low quality or variety of food to those who regularly experience hunger.
A lack of nutritious food, especially in the earliest formative years, can have a lasting impact on physical and behavioral health, along with development and academic achievement.
"These children without the availability of nutrition don't have the chance to spring back," said Vicki Escarra, president and chief executive of Feeding America.
Escarra said the group is lobbying Congress and the White House for more federal funding for food bank programs that target young children. President Barack Obama has pledged to expand food aid and end childhood hunger by 2015.
Dr. John Cook, the lead researcher on the report and an associate professor of pediatrics at Boston Medical Center, says hunger varies by state based on two main factors - the level of employment and poverty, and the extent of food and income assistance programs in the region.
Anne Goodman, executive director of the Cleveland Foodbank in Ohio, says there are several successful programs to feed school-age children, but beyond government nutrition programs infants and toddlers can be harder to help.
"We have all these places to touch older children, but with the younger children what we are doing is serving their families," she said.
The study was paid for by The ConAgra Foods Foundation, a charity arm of the large food company.
The U.S. study coincides with a U.N. statement claiming, the number of hungry people in the world could soon hit a record 1 billion, despite a recent drop in food prices.
The recent financial crisis, though it has helped bring global food prices down, also has led to falling trade and lower development aid, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization's general director, Jacques Diouf.
As a result of the crisis, an additional 104 million people were likely to go hungry this year - meaning they receive fewer than 1,800 calories a day, Diouf told reporters Wednesday after a two-day meeting in Paris between the FAO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
CBS/ AP That's more than 17 percent of children who could suffer cognitive and developmental damage if they are not properly fed.
The not-for-profit advocacy group Feeding America based its findings on 2005-2007 data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Agriculture Department. The study, released Thursday, is the first to look at these numbers for children under the age of 5, according to the group.
The study also shows that in 11 states, more than 20 percent of children under 5 are at risk of going hungry. Louisiana has the highest rate, with just under a quarter of children at risk, followed by North Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Idaho and Arkansas.
According to the Agriculture Department, 11 percent of households lacked enough food for an active, healthy life, before the economy worsened late last year.
The study looks at a range of children who are at risk, from those who have low quality or variety of food to those who regularly experience hunger.
A lack of nutritious food, especially in the earliest formative years, can have a lasting impact on physical and behavioral health, along with development and academic achievement.
"These children without the availability of nutrition don't have the chance to spring back," said Vicki Escarra, president and chief executive of Feeding America.
Escarra said the group is lobbying Congress and the White House for more federal funding for food bank programs that target young children. President Barack Obama has pledged to expand food aid and end childhood hunger by 2015.
Dr. John Cook, the lead researcher on the report and an associate professor of pediatrics at Boston Medical Center, says hunger varies by state based on two main factors - the level of employment and poverty, and the extent of food and income assistance programs in the region.
Anne Goodman, executive director of the Cleveland Foodbank in Ohio, says there are several successful programs to feed school-age children, but beyond government nutrition programs infants and toddlers can be harder to help.
"We have all these places to touch older children, but with the younger children what we are doing is serving their families," she said.
The study was paid for by The ConAgra Foods Foundation, a charity arm of the large food company.
The U.S. study coincides with a U.N. statement claiming, the number of hungry people in the world could soon hit a record 1 billion, despite a recent drop in food prices.
The recent financial crisis, though it has helped bring global food prices down, also has led to falling trade and lower development aid, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization's general director, Jacques Diouf.
As a result of the crisis, an additional 104 million people were likely to go hungry this year - meaning they receive fewer than 1,800 calories a day, Diouf told reporters Wednesday after a two-day meeting in Paris between the FAO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
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That's because the Republicans care more about fetuses than they do about real children.
Just think if all the money and effort poured into the "anti abortion" effort were put into food for children that desperately need it. Just more hypocrisy and sophistry from the poor bitter pro-death neocons. Proof that their "pro life" campaign is trite and meaningless in the face of these starving children.
There is a time and place for discussion of fetuses. Or "unborn children" as the religious right politically correct like to call them.That time is the day when every last unwanted, starving, orphaned or mentally or physically challenged child on the planet finds a loving home, enough food, a good education and a positive support environment.Until then rescuing fetuses is a 100% hypocritical act. It means NOTHING. Except, of course that the Catholic faith is actually just an elaborate exercise in total hypocrisy.
Neocon Fascist Nazi Republicans say that surveys lie and the number is actually much less.
I thought America was supposed to be the land of plenty and opportunity.
Well, we can toss "opportunity" out the window, and as far as plenty, what we have is plenty of BS from BOTH the right AND left!
Meanwhile, people are living in shelters after losing their homes and food pantries are bone empty. Still, we have Rush Limbaugh who can babble stupidity and make millions doing it!
GO FIGURE!!!
HAIL OBAMA???
They will call
they ask, do you have children ?
they ask do they ever say they are hungry ?/you will say yes because children always say they are hungry [my 6ft 4in 270 lb lineman son is a prime example]
your children are now in danger of going hungry for the survey
show me hunger in America where the care takers are not either addicted to drugs or incompetent mentally USA is the breadbasket to the world
Still waiting for it?
If when it finally reaches you, it looks and smells like urine, that's because it is.
We have WIC, Food Stamps, Angel Ministries, the Food Bank, Free lunch/breakfast at school, free lunch/breakfast at summer school, Churches....How much more FREE do we need?
Plu-eeze. MOST of these people are just:
1. Having more kids than they should (if you can't feed 'em don't breed 'em)
2. Too lazy to seek out the services available to them
3. They just aren't TRULY interested in paying attention to nutrition and going along with whatever's easiest. (Includes those kids who will ONLY eat speghetti o's and nothing else)