Food Insecurity Essay

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Does anyone ever think about the effect going hungry has on a person’s overall health? Yes, they may not be obese as the rest of the country, but there are other health effects that directly affect a person when it comes to being food insecure. Food insecurity is defined as the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. Hunger in the United States affects so many people, more than one realizes for a country that is so well established. Huger affects children, seniors, different cultures, people that live in the rural areas of the country, and even the working class Americans in your surrounding communities, essentially your neighbors! Our government has established a few programs to help …show more content…

When we think of that number of people in poverty we know that living in poverty directly relates to food insecurity. A slightly higher number of people are food insecure 42.2 million people in the United States to be exact, including more than 13 million children. Those numbers are astonishing for a country that is so well developed and established. We here are supposed to be the best country to live in the …show more content…

Well, we all know how we feel when we don’t get enough food in us, but what are the long term effects of not having adequate food intake? According to Leung, Epel, Willett, Rimm and Laraia (2015), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest of fifteen federal nutrition assistance programs. This government program shockingly assists 1 in 7 people in the United States. “SNAP aims to reduce food insecurity and to improve the health of low-income individuals through the provision of benefits used to purchase food” (Leung et al.,2015, p.622). It has been shown that depression is directly related to food shortages. Most reported symptoms of depression were feeling tired or having little engery, trouble sleeping or sleeping too much; and feeling down, depressed,

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