Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Child poverty and hunger in america
Child poverty and hunger in america
Child poverty and hunger in america
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Child poverty and hunger in america
Lauren Ray
2 Robin Lane
Arkadelphia, Arkansas 71923
April 27, 2018
Kirby, Arkansas community
Proposal for the Kirby Elementary School Backpack Food Program for low-income children
Summary
Every school faces child hunger. Kirby Elementary School has several students who are hungry on the weekends. They have no food in the home or no one is home to prepare a meal. As a student observing this school, I notice a large number of children, especially low income children, sick and falling behind in class. The lack of good nutrition is a key factor in this problem. The Backpack Food Program is a program that is common around the nation and especially in many surrounding schools. It is a program that provides nonperishable, healthy
…show more content…
It is sad to see students not getting the appropriate amount of nutrients, feeling sickly every day, and falling behind in class because they cannot concentrate due to the fact that they are hungry. The only hot meal that most of these students are getting is during school hours. The need for the Backpack Food Program is evident. According to the nonprofit organization Feeding America, there are 22 million children across the nation that goes home hungry every day (Backpack Program, 2018). Childhood hunger is …show more content…
During the interview, I asked her if she has had any previous thoughts or opinions from working in a different community and why she thought it would be good for our community. She made several good points. In the previous years, she mentioned how she sent out letters to parents who teachers and herself think have the greatest need for the food. She also mentioned that parents had to sign the form and send it back to her at school. She said she loved the program that she has been acquainted with. She also added how the students and parents are very appreciative of it. Even though Kirby Elementary School has seventy percent of students on free or reduced lunches, that does not mean that every student will sign up for the Backpack Food Program. Alissa stated that in her previous experience how only as few as fifteen signed up for the program. There is a need to provide this Backpack Program because students need nutritional food to thrive in school and life in general. Because this program has been proven to help so many, a Backpack Food Program will tremendously help at Kirby Elementary
The children range in age from 12-15 and their issues from simple obesity to needing gastric-bypass surgery. The children are fed fast food in school cafeterias, with government labeling of pizza, fries and tomato paste as vegetables. Stores have candies and snacks at children’s eye level, and at home they eat the standard offerings of processed foods. One of the other things this film shows is the complete lack of support for these families in the area of proper diet education. A couple of the parents talked about the doctors encouraging them to seek help with nutrition, the doctors did not have any useful advice on where to get this
Food insecurity is an issue faced by millions of Americans every day, and the biggest group affected by this is working families with children. Food insecurity is so big that the United States government has now recognized it and provided a definition for it. The United States government has defined food insecurity as “a household level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food” (USDA.gov). Food banks and anti-hunger advocates agree that some of the causes of food insecurity are stagnant wages, increase in housing costs, unemployment, and inflation of the cost of food. These factors have caused food banks to see a change in the groups of people needing assistance. Doug O’Brien, director of public policy and research at Chicago-based Second Harvest says “’we’ve seen a real shift in who we serve. A decade ago, it was almost always homeless, single men and chronic substance abusers. Now we have children and working families at soup kitchens’” (Koch). These families that are feeling the effects of food insecurity will not be only ones affected by it, but all of America. Studies have shown that there is a link between food security, performance in the classroom, and obesity. If this issue is not faced head on, America will have a generation of children not fully prepared for the workforce and high health insurance rates due to obesity health issues.
In conclusion, Child hunger is prevalent in the United States. As of 2012, there are over sixteen million children suffering from Child Hunger in the US. While there are many solutions in order to solve this problem, it still persists. This issues needs to be continued to be looked at and dealt with our policy makers as they ultimately hold the key.
The average consumption of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernourished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier that the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II. While the poor are generally well-nourished, some poor families do experience hunger, meaning a temporary discomfort due to food shortages. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 13 percent of poor families and 2.6 percent of poor children experience hunger at some point during the year.
Childhood obesity is a chronic health problem in the United States. Today, "nearly a third of youths are overweight or obese" (National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research). Obesity affects children psychologically and physically. Obesity is a chronic imbalance of more calories consumed than expended each day. Childhood obesity is closely linked with housing and food securities, children without stable homes are more likely to suffer from hunger, chronic disease, and malnutrition. Demographic, socio-structural, and environmental variables also play a significant role in the childhood obesity prevalence and incidents. For instance, environments with lower than the average neighborhood, availability of healthy foods and higher than
Our future begins with the children of today growing up to be the adults of tomorrow. “Childhood obesity is the condition of being overweight or severely overweight which causes risks to health between the age of 2 and 19” (“Childhood Obesity”). Childhood obesity is taking a huge toll on not only the physical standpoint of the child, but also their mental stability. Childhood obesity is no longer a concern with Americans; it’s now a problem that has spiraled out of control in the world. Obesity will never be resolved one hundred percent, but it’s the little impacts that concerned citizens bring to people’s attention that make the difference. One step in the right directions is better than not taking a step at all. Along with the many health issues associated with childhood obesity, there are three major effects that seem to stand out more around the world; the food we subject our bodies to, setting a pattern for the next generation(s), and it contributes to a child not reaching his or her full potential in life.
Fruits and vegetables are now considered two separate groups, with increased servings. Since Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act went into effect School districts have been struggled to executing the program, the backlash from students was almost immediate children began throwing away most of their lunch.”The School Nutrition Association said that 70 percent of school meal programs had taken a significant financial hit since the new mandates went into effect. Cafeteria operators from Los Angeles to New York report discouraging amounts of food waste and declining
With the implementation of the “Healthy Kids Hunger-Free Act” schools are not serving as many lunches and participation is decreasing. According to the Government Accountability Office (GOA), “Nationwide, student participation declined by 1.2 million students(or 3.7 percent) from school year 2010-2011 through school year 2012-2013, after having increased steadily for many years”(sec. 1). The school lunches became more distasteful and bland; the combinations of foods did not make sense, and the portion sizes decreased significantly. In order to support the cafeteria
Students learn and do their best when they are hungry, and uncomfortable! That makes perfect sense right? If you’re like most Americans, this may be one of the most ridiculous statements you have ever heard. I know I have never done anything better hungry. Many students sit through their lunch time at school because they have no food to eat because they don’t have the money to afford it, or they are not able to bring food from home for various reasons. This is why many schools have free and reduced lunch programs. But not everybody can apply for these programs; even middle class families in today’s economy sometimes can’t give their child cash every day. Times are tough, and every family is different. These are good programs, but they are not good enough. One child missing a meal, and going hungry is too many in my book. That’s why I think it should be at least a state law in North Carolina, if not a federal law, that offers free lunch in all public schools for all students, regardless of income. This way it’s simple, cost effective and easy, and nobody will be singled out, or go hungry if they do not bring their lunch from home.
In the United States of America, the richest nation in the world, one in six Americans do not have enough food to eat. Have you ever wondered why there are so many food banks and food pantries throughout the country? They are not simply, as you might think, able to offer emergency food assistance. Indeed, they are the main sources of food for millions of food-insecure Americans. Food insecurity, the state of not having sufficient quantity of affordable and nutritious food, is very widespread and common in America.
that, in turn, could adversely affect the weight of very young children” (child Trends). Works cited Alaimo, K., Olson, C. M., Frongillo, E. A., & Briefel, R. R. (2001). Food insufficiency, family income, and health in U.S. preschool and school-aged children. American Journal of Public Health, 91(5), 781-786. Bronte-Tinkew, J., Zaslow, M., Capps, R., & Horowitz, A. (2007).
In hopes to combat the starving children, programs have been set up at schools to hopefully get them food, but what happens when they don’t attend school, they miss a day, or not know about these programs. When they aren't at school children with parents who want to put food on the table, (Which may not be the case in some situations.) May rely on government programs like SNAP/Food Stamp, which not only destroys our economy, but it provides ‘cheap’ and ‘unhealthy’ options for these people. At least they have food, but what happens with the lack of proper nutrients. “59% of food-insecure households participated in at least one of the major federal food assistance program…”
Many of these children only get a full meal while having their school lunch, so many of these children go hungry the rest of the day.
Low income children with inadequate access to healthy foods in schools experience higher rates of poor behavior, health problems and academic struggles. As of September 2015, 50.1 million students were attending public elementary and secondary schools in the United States (Back to school statistics, 2015). School aged children spend between 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week and 180 days in school during the calendar year which results in 35% of their daily calories being consumed during school hours (Edwalds, 2014). Food insufficiency has significant implications for children, including poor physical and mental health outcomes, behavior problems, and low educational achievements. In 2012, 20% of households in the United States with children lacked consistent access to adequate food (Jin, Barnidge & Yougmi, 2015).
Kids going to bed hungry at night. One of the main causes of hunger is poverty trap. People that live in poverty have a rough life. They can't afford food and the nutrients they need to keep there body going. Not only for herself but for there family.