Week Seven
1087 words by kchilds
Facts about Hunger
*There are about nine hundred twenty three people around the globe who are hungry.
*Every five seconds, a child dies from hunger related causes, that adds up to about sixteen thousand deaths a day.
* Hunger is the most extreme form of poverty, in this case, the individuals or families cannot afford to meet their most basic needs, those for food.
* Hunger is not merely shown in starvation and famine. A lot of the poor people who battle hunger deal with chronic malnourishment and vitamin/mineral deficiencies, resulting in stunted growth, weakness and a compromised immunity to illness.
* In 2005, almost one point four billion people lived below the international poverty line, meaning that they earned less than one dollar and twenty five cents per day.
* Among the large group of poor people, many of them have difficulties getting enough, nutritious food for themselves and their families. This has resulted in about eight hundred twenty million people in the developing world that or malnourished or undernourished. This means that they consume less than the minimum amount of calories that are important for sound health and growth.
* “Undernourishment negatively affects people’s health, productivity, sense of hope and overall well-being. A lack of food can stunt growth, slow thinking, sap energy, hinder fetal development and contribute to mental retardation.”
* Economically, because those people who are poor are in a constant search for food, they are being deprived of their time and energy and have less of both for working and earning an income.
* “Socially, the lack of food erodes relationships and feeds shame so that those most in need of support are often least able to call on it.”
*Facts from http://www.bread.org/learn/hunger-basics/hunger-facts-international.html
http://www.bread.org/learn/us-hunger-issues/state-hunger-and-poverty-data.html
Hunger and obesity are not independent of each other.
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Most people have the misconception that hunger and obesity can not coexist. People often associate the state of hunger or food insecurity with not eating enough and they associate being overweight or being obese with eating too much. The most recently made available data shows that 66 percent of adults and 17 percent of children in the United States are considered either overweight or obese. (source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004)
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Almost 11 percent of the households in the United Stated have experienced food insecurity. In other words, in 2006, 35.5 million Americans including 12.6 million children were not always sure if, when, or where they would get their next meal. (source: USDA, 2007)
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In most cases, parents will skip meals in order for their children \to have enough to eat. Many families just barely scrape by with enough to avoid real hunger, but they still lack the money to buy the healthy, nutritious foods needed for a balanced diet. In the United States, where most people’s experience with hunger or food insecurity is sporadic or episodic (as opposed to continuous or chronic), hunger and obesity can and do coexist.
**Hunger and poverty may actually increase the risk of obesity.
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The causes of obesity are not simple; and the problems that are associated with being overweight and obese affect all Americans, regardless of income or race. New research suggests, however, that hunger, poverty and obesity may be intricately linked. Recent work from Cornell University and the University of California at Davis suggest that obesity among poor women may be linked to their habit of periodically going without food so that their children can eat.
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Other factors also may contribute to the problem. Lower income people may consume greater amounts of less expensive, high-calorie and high-fat foods to guard against hunger, or may be unable to afford sufficient amounts of more nutritious food. Families lacking in cash may increasingly depend on fast food chains, which promote “value” meals, such as oversized burgers, extra-large servings of fries and buckets of soda. Healthier foods – such as meat, fish, fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains – sadly, are often more expensive than alternative junk food.
Poor neighborhoods often lack large grocery stores that typically offer the lowest prices and greatest range of brands, package sizes and quality choices.
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They also often do not have access to farmers’ markets that sell locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables. Transportation to these large grocery stores and farmers’ markets also may be unavailable or expensive. Consequently, many families in low-income neighborhoods depend on their corner convenience stores, which often are stocked with high-cost, processed, pre-packaged foods. Exacerbating this problem, low-income families, especially those living in urban areas, often do not have safe areas for physical activity. Burning calories by exercising is half of the weight control solution.
**Federal nutrition programs may guard against obesity.
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A better understanding of these complex relationships is key to helping us move forward in fighting both hunger and obesity. While additional research is necessary, we can begin tackling these issues today by strengthening and expanding the national nutrition programs. The programs increase access to high-quality, nutritious foods and improve nutrition education for low-income families. Specifically, we need to increase access to and benefits for food stamps and the child nutrition programs, and support access to nutritious foods through supermarkets and farmers’ markets in low-income neighborhoods. Better access to and awareness of federal nutrition programs will help more people afford nutritious food on a regular basis and is the fastest, most efficient way to quickly reduce hunger and food insecurity in the United States.
**Information from http://www.bread.org/learn/us-hunger-issues/obesity-and-hunger.html
I think the problem with the promised land is that the land belonged to someone else, and was taken by means of brute force. It has been used to justify the conquering of lands not quite promised to anyone.
God’s house says that he likes to travel with his people, it also says that he is comparable to the greatest warriors and conquerors of the times period of which it was described, implying that he wanted to be with his people, and also that he was a great warrior.