Understanding Childhood Hunger
Facts on Childhood Hunger
17.2 million American households struggle to put food on the table. Because of that, more than 16 million children are at risk of hunger.
Why Childhood Hunger Is Important
Hunger impairs our children’s health in significant and long-lasting ways:
- Children who struggle with hunger are sick more often, recover more slowly, and are more likely to be hospitalized.
- They are more likely to experience headaches, stomachaches, colds, ear infections and fatigue.
- Children who face hunger are more susceptible to obesity and its harmful health consequences as children and as adults.
Hunger impedes our childrens’ ability to learn and perform academically:
- Undernourished children under the age of 3 cannot learn as much, as fast or as well.
- Lack of enough nutritious food impairs a child’s ability to concentrate and perform well in school.
- Children who don’t get enough nutritious food are more susceptible to the negative effects of skipping breakfast on their ability to think and learn.
Hunger predisposes our children to emotional and behavioral difficulties:
- Children who regularly do not get enough nutritious food have more behavioral, emotional and academic problems and tend to be more aggressive and anxious.
- Teens who regularly do not get enough to eat are more likely to be suspended from school and have difficulty getting along with other kids.
Food Security
More than 16 million children - that’s 1 in 5 children - lack the means to get enough nutritious food on a regular basis, according to USDA’s report, Household Food Security in the United States, 2010, published in September 2011. They are food insecure and struggle with hunger.
- Food insecurity exists in 17.2 million households in America, 3.9 million of them with children.
- Rates of food insecurity were substantially higher than the national average among households with incomes near or below the Federal poverty line, among households with children headed by single parents, and among Black and Hispanic households.
- Food insecurity was most common in large cities, but still exists in rural areas, suburbs and other outlying areas around large cities.
- The typical (median) food-secure household spent 27 percent more for food than the typical food-insecure household of the same size and composition.
- Fifty-nine percent of food-insecure households in the survey reported that in the previous month they had participated in one or more of the three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance programs: SNAP (food stamps), WIC (Supplemental) and school lunch.
The full USDA report, Household Food Security in the United States, 2010, published September 2011 is available at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR125/ERR125.pdf.
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