Hunger Hits Home The documentary I recently watched on the food network called “hunger hits home” is about the crisis of childhood hunger in America through the eyes of three families, anti-hunger activists, educators, and politicians trying desperately to put an end to this ever growing battle. At first hunger hits home shows the lives of hardworking families struggling to make ends meet. They show how hunger is affecting their everyday lives. They also show hunger activists who are hard at work trying to help those hungry families, like a food pantry founder who opened her own food pantry to help people who didn’t have food, a principle who is determined to not let his students go hungry, as well as politicians and non-funded anti-hunger activists. In the one hour long special that really touched my heart it shows how this overgrowing crisis is getting out of hand and how us as Americans need to lend a helping hand to stop this.
Stop Hunger Everyone in America just thinks that only poor countries have children that go to bed hungry every night. Not true actually, there is a ton of starving children in America who aren’t being fed on a regular basis. America send over tons of food and supplies over to other countries to use, which is fine but what about the kids who are starving and going to bed hungry in America? What do they have? What will they get?
Parents that don’t make enough money are living in areas that aren’t particularly safe, which leads to the children being scared to go outside and play. Education also contribute to the socioeconomic issue with obesity. Parents that have no sort of education don’t understand the proper nutritions that are in the foods and what are healthy food choices. Schools are suppose to help children lose weight and teaching them about nutrition. Many schools face a lot of budget cuts and the first programs to be cut
“Over the past few decades, the food and home environments have changed tremendously. Environmental influences that affect eating behaviors include the changing nature of the food supply; increased reliance on foods consumed away from home; food advertising, marketing, and promotion; and food prices” (St-Onge, Keller, & Heymefield, 2013). Obese children are affecting the world of microeconomics. Microeconomics is solely dependent on how much and what is consumed by individuals. With many children experiencing obesity, the economy markets are affected because the way children are forced to change the way they eat.
Due to their small physical size, early developmental status, and need for constant care it is important for all health and social care agencies involved in that child's life to make sure that they always look for the signs of maltreatment or abuse. In 2012 Daniel Pelka died from starvation weighing under 2 stone in body weight at 4 years old. Daniel Pelka weighed 10kg and was described as a 'concentration camp victim.' by his doctor. He started eating out of bins and stealing other student's food at school.
I can see the concern, but I have also had lunch at school with my kids and seen the reality. One of the main reasons behind these changes to school food regulations is to promote healthy eating habits in school age children. The reality is that children do not eat their food, and they throw it away. Parents, who visit their children during lunch, take in fast food for them to eat. At the end of the day, the child is hungry, and most parents stop by the favorite fast food to get dinner as part of their busy lives.
Paul Krugman: “America Must Redeclare the War on Poverty” Krugman states “poverty in early childhood is like poison to the brain”. Many children experience the effects of poverty such as unhealthy levels of stress, thus making it harder to escape poverty. Since the war on poverty was abandoned approximately forty years ago and the government shifted its focus on the alleged abuses of welfare, the percentage of those in poverty has increased and is getting worse. When President Johnson declared the “war on poverty” forty four years ago there was a dramatic reduction of those affected by poverty. The increase in the percentage of people today in poverty should show the government something needs to be done and we should once again re-declare
Losing oil means not just problems for auto transport, but massive problems for agriculture. Our food is almost totally dependent on oil and natural gas to power tractors, for fertilizer, to bring food to market. Cuba had widespread blackouts, not only did the economy suffer, but so did food. Without refrigeration, food must be eaten soon after it is harvested or else it would spoil. According to the film, Cubans were on the edge of starvation child malnutrition was rampant and the average Cuban lost 20 pounds.
Food Insecurity A critical component to a healthy life is nutrition. Many people are going hungry each day despite a huge surplus of food production. Food insecurity refers to the food’s availability and an individual’s access to it. A food secure home is one that lives without hunger or fear of starvation. Many people around the world today are malnourished due to the lack of a proper meal.
The easy way out to being healthy and eating right for ones body, fast food has plagued the nation especially with diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and even strokes or heart attacks. A question is now posed of whether or not fast foods should be fed to children, in substitute of their regular lunches at school. These kids are what seem like innocent victims because of their naivety towards the real problems with fast food. The problems with this quick fix in school cafeterias are that students would become obese, they would develop bad habits, and that the school would be advertising for these companies. “More than 70 percent of obese adolescents retain their overweight and obese condition even during their adulthood” (What Are Children Munching On?).