Report Shows American Children Not Getting Their Fill
by JAMES ROCCHIO, Causecast Editor
America hosts the whole gamut of human living conditions. Los Angeles’ skid row is an infamous holdout for the homeless, where right up the freeway folks spend tens of millions on estates. Now it comes as a slight surprise that while the country fends off an obesity epidemic, with childhood rates on the rise, another population of children faces hunger.
A federal report has been released that shows rates of poverty and hunger increasing in households with children. At 0.3 percent, the numbers look underwhelming. Shedding the percentage, that’s about 400,000 more children “being hungry, having skipped a meal or having gone without eating” than the previous year. Having recorded the data before the market fall and credit crises, one can expect these numbers would only worsen afterward. Concurrently, the number of children with at least one parent working full time has decreased by one percent. Again, the margins seem negligible, but imagine someone you know losing hours at work and telling their child to choose two of three daily meals. The U.S. gives a lot in worldwide aid, but most of the world’s biggest problems, like hunger, can also be found prominently in the States. The best way for us to lead is by example.
As living conditions worsen, the study did show that more children are receiving government-funded health care, a sign that these kids are getting some of the help they need (with an estimated 14 percent of all children having special health care needs). However, the cure to hunger does not require a doctor’s appointment. Feeding America is an organization (working with the United We Serve campaign) that provides information about hunger in America and resources for how to help, be it volunteering at a kitchen or donating money.
Photo by GlennFleishman, flickr
- Posted by Causecast
Related causes: Health
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