Hunger 101

Childhood Hunger

By Phyllis Haynes
Chief Executive Officer

The numbers are in and the news is tragic: The hunger crisis in America is hitting Arkansas children especially hard.  In a new national Feeding America study, “Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008,” Arkansas had the highest rate of child hunger in the entire nation.
Nearly one in four of Arkansas’ children suffer from hunger and food insecurity--that’s 166,000 children, or 24.4 percent of the state’s 680,000 youngest.  The study, using data collected before the devastating recession that hit us in 2009, said Arkansas also led the nation in the rate of growth in child hunger at 6.1 percent a year.

Statistics are depressing

Those numbers match other depressing recent statistics.
• Fully 35 percent of the people who received food through the Arkansas Foodbank Network’s  food pantries, soup kitchens, after-school programs and shelters in 2009 were children.
• The poverty rate for Arkansas children now stands at 24.9%.
• Arkansas has the third highest rate of food insecurity in the country.
• Arkansas ranked seventh in the nation for unemployment in 2009.
What does it mean for our children and their families who are part of these grim statistics?
• It means they skipped meals because they were simply unable to afford them, or they were unable to provide their kids the right kind of nutrition they needed to stay healthy.
• It means children unable to concentrate in school, unable to reach their potential as healthy, productive adults.
• It means hungry children who are less able to fight off colds and other illnesses, thus increasing school absences and medical costs.
• It means children prone to falling victim later in life to diseases like diabetes that will affect not only that individual’s adult life but also burden our health system for many years to come.

Missed meals can never be recovered

Childhood hunger first causes health issues and educational deficiencies, which leads to workforce and job readiness problems that affect the rest of us. The bottom line: A missed meal can never be recovered.  The impact on child development can lead to problems that last a lifetime.
Against this dark backdrop are a few bright spots.
Those of us active in hunger relief efforts in Arkansas have been encouraged by the efforts of Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D.-Ark.) to increase awareness of, and support for, childhood hunger and nutrition, and specifically through the Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill (“Lincoln pushes child nutrition bill,” July 28, 2010).
The Child Nutrition Bill is not a question of politics. Hunger does not have a political face.  It is a question of doing what’s right for our country and what’s right for Arkansas.  I wish to encourage everyone to look toward the day when all children are well-nourished, where no one has to go hungry.  Getting there takes passage of this legislation as an important step forward.

It's time to step up

Now is the time to take on this challenge to our state’s well being.  Not only by supporting the effort to improve childhood nutrition through legislation, but also by increasing support for grassroots efforts, for food providers, and for the support services that help children escape the grip of poverty and hunger.
Let’s all take this report as a call to action. Volunteer at a food pantry, take some canned goods to church this Sunday, or make a donation to the cause.  All of us who don’t need to worry where our next meal is coming from need to pitch in and help those who are suffering.
This time, “We’re No. 1” leaves a bitter aftertaste.
Phyllis Haynes is executive director of Arkansas’ largest distributor of donated food to hungry people, the Arkansas Foodbank, which is a  member of Feeding America. This article was distributed by the American Forum of Washington, D.C.

Childhood Hunger Facts

• Nearly 14 million children are estimated to be served by Feeding America, over 3 million of which are ages 5 and under. 
• According to the USDA, over 16 million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households in 2008.
• 20% or more of the child population in 16 states and D.C. are living in food insecure households.  The states of Arkansas (24.4 percent) and Texas (24.3 percent) have the highest rates of children in households without consistent access to food. (Cook, John, Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008)
• The top five states with the highest rate of food insecure children under 18 are Arkansas, Texas, Arizona, Missouri, Mississippi, as well as the District of Columbia.iii
• The top five states with the lowest rate of food insecure children under 18 are North Dakota, Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Alaska.iii
• By U.S. Census regions, the percentages of food insecure children under age five is as follows: South 21.8%, West 19.6%, Midwest 18.6%, and Northeast 13.7%.iii
• Proper nutrition is vital to the growth and development of children.  62 percent of client households with children under the age of 18 reported participating in the National School Lunch Program, but only 14 percent reported having a child participate in a summer feeding program that provides free food when school is out.i
• 54 percent of client households with children under the age of 3 participated in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).i
• 32 percent of pantries, 42 percent of kitchens, and 18 percent of shelters in the Feeding America network reported "many more children in the summer" being served by their programs.

From Feeding America