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Child Hunger

In: Social Issues

Submitted By natashaw24
Words 636
Pages 3
Have you ever gone to bed hungry? Or woken up with your stomach growling, get up and go to the kitchen, get something to eat and go on about your day and not worry about how or when your next meal will be?
When you picture hunger issues do you think of underdeveloped third world countries? Or homeless people that you see on the side of the street? The truth is that there is a new picture that should come to mind when you think of people not having enough to eat.
In the United States, 1 out of every 6 families struggle with hunger. Millions of hard-working families, many that have children and are caring for seniors are struggling to make ends meet and often go several meals or even days without food.
This speech is to provide some facts on this issue and persuade you to maybe take a step to help make an impact on hunger issues in your community.
Due to the recent decline in the economy the statistics are staggering and are mind-boggling. The organizations Feeding America and NoKidHungery.org state:
• 16.7 million children and 2.8 million seniors lived in food insecure households.
• In 2010 the top 5 states with the highest rate of food insecure children under the age of 18 were D.C, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico and Florida
• 62% of American teachers regularly see children who come to school hungry. Many of these children rely on school meals as there only source of food.
• Hunger is most common in larger cities but is still prevalent in rural areas
For those of us who have never had to worry about where their next meal is coming from these may just be words and you may not able to relate to the effects that being hungry have on a person. Hunger affects a person’s mental and physical health, a child’s development as well as their ability to learn. I’ve been there. I grew up in a low-income household with a single mother who constantly struggled to

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