No one Deserves to Go Hungry, Especially Children

Alone and Hungry

This is a very straight forward, no hold barred article. I have not sugar coated anything. The words are plain and simple and often blunt. The reason, this is a very important issue. One that we as a society tend to overlook when it comes to the children of our country. America is a wonderful place and we are the first to be there to save the day if people or children are in strife anywhere in the world. However, we sometimes forget to look in our backyard. I hope that this piece motivates you and your family to take action, and help save the life of a child that your child probably knows.

In our world today it is not uncommon to see chubby and overweight children everywhere you go. Childhood obesity has become a problem, especially in the United States, but its often unthought-of of opposite, childhood starvation, is still a grievous and devastating problem for millions of children all over the world. For every over weight child we see, we must remember that there are probably hundreds of children going to bed without dinner because there was simply not enough money for food that night.

Where are children starving?

Starvation is not prejudice and affects children everywhere. Although, children living in more poverty stricken areas or countries will more frequently feel the effects of hunger. In our world today, nearly 16,000 children die every day because of starvation, which is essentially one child every five seconds. So count to five and somewhere a child is now dead, by the time you reach 60 a dozen children will have died from hunger. These children are dying because some of their most basic needs are not being met. Either the family is too poor or they are suffering as a result of maltreatment. 2006 saw the deaths of 9.7 million children before their fifth birthday. Nearly all the deaths occurred in developing countries, especially sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia. According to a report done in 2007 by The U.S. Department of Agriculture 36.2 million people were part of households that did not have enough food; 12.4 million of those people were children. In 2007, in the United States, the ten states that rank the highest in malnutrition were Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Maine, South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. So, no matter where you live, chances are there is a hungry child nearby. It is true that hunger and starvation are often seen among children and families with little or no income, whether they live in the Americas, Europe, Asia or Africa. It can be easy to shut your eyes to this problem, especially when you have happy healthy children of your own, but for just a moment think of how the other parent may feel. They too love and care for their child but for some reason they are not able to give them enough food. They may feel ashamed and embarrassed as yet another day passes with little food. The pain and sadness they feel is probably equally to the hunger pains their child feels every time a meal is skipped. READ More on No one Deserves to Go Hungry, Especially Children