More American children are living in poverty in America than ever before. According to Bill shore, CEO of “Share Our Strength,” a national nonprofit organization for ending childhood hunger, the poverty rate has increased from 20.7 percent in 2009 to 22 percent in 2010. About 46 million Americans live below the poverty line, meaning millions of children go to bed hungry, suffering from malnutrition.
Hunger is a new experience for many middle-class families, so they often aren’t equipped with the strategies needed to cope. In fact some of these middle class families were once on the other “side of the fence,” helping poor families by donating canned goods or working in food pantries or soup kitchens.
Visible Signs of a Malnourished Child
Malnutrition affects a child both physically and internally. Weight loss is one of the main visible changes. You first notice weight loss in their arms, legs and buttocks. A malnourished child can have stunted height that can continue through adulthood. If malnutrition is severe a child may have a bloated stomach. They also may have a smaller head circumference.
Other physical symptoms of malnourished kids may be thinning hair and thinner skin so small cuts don’t heal as quickly. Children who suffer from malnutrition can have a blank stare, lacking luster in their eyes.
Internal Changes
Emotionally, a hungry child is affected by being anxious or irritable. They can suffer from stress, worried about when they’ll get their next meal.
Brain development can be affected and a child’s I.Q. can go down in points. Less food means less sugar, which the brain needs.
Malnourished kids can develop a vitamin D deficiency, damaging their bone health, which can cause rickets.
The rate at which the heart beats can be impacted.
How You Can Help Hungry Children
Contact the National Hunger Hotline — If you know of a family that needs food, tell them about the National Hunger Hotline (1-866-3 HUNGRY or 1-866-348-6479). This hotline refers needy people to emergency food assistance, such as government programs, food pantries and organizations working to improve access to nutritional foods, besides build self-reliance in down-trodden people. Its hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., EST.
Participate in a Local Food Bank — Go to find where there’s a local food bank or pantry and get involved. A good start is by checking out local.com.
Set out food boxes — For example, if you belong to a church or other organization, encourage members to bring in canned goods each week. Then, when the box is full, you can deliver the food to a local food pantry. Get youth groups involved which not only gives physical help, but also makes young people more aware of the needs of less fortunate kids.
How Teachers Can Help
Teachers can look out for signs of malnourished children in their classrooms and ensure they’re taking advantage of any school programs that offer before-school free breakfasts. They can help by being more sensitive to children who participate in before-school breakfasts. Often kids who are involved in these programs are self-conscious as there is a stigma attached to them. Perhaps teachers could find a way to have the kids eat their breakfasts in class, along with the other kids who can also munch on some healthy breakfast snacks. Boosting self-esteem is another way teachers can help hungry students. They can promote healthy eating by encouraging inexpensive snacks that are healthy such as carrots and peanut butter.
How Parents Can Help
There are many healthy foods that are not as expensive as some people may believe they are. For example, for breakfast give kids oatmeal, low-fat milk (for Vitamin D) and a slice of fruit, such as an apple, for a nutritional breakfast. If fresh fruit is too expensive, you can always use frozen fruit.
For lunch, good choices may include low-fat milk, an orange, peanut butter and whole wheat bread. Veggies such as celery or carrot sticks are healthy and, again, if fresh vegetables are too pricey, choose frozen vegetables. You can usually find a generic store brand rather than a more expensive one.
Healthy foods for dinner may be those such as generic chicken soup, brown rice, veggies, cheese on toast, low-fat milk and beans. If you do use canned vegetables, be sure you select those low in sodium. Cheap, healthy snacks are those such as peanut butter and crackers. A half-sandwich with lean meat or cheese is another healthy snack.
Parents can divide up pasta to make it last longer. Often food pantries include pasta in their food sacks to needy families, along with a can of tomato sauce.
These are only a few ways parents, teachers and groups can help hungry children. If more people become aware of the need and pool together their talents, time, money and other resources we can help more malnourished children become healthier. Childhood hunger should not be just the problem of the needy families, but should be everyone’s concern.