America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization, provides these statistics on the effects of hunger.
In the United States:
To access the study, please go to: www.secondharvest.org/learn_about_hunger/methodology.pdf.
An interactive map showing child food insecurity state by state is at: www.secondharvest.org/childhunger.
- One in six children is hungry or at risk of hunger every year.
- 12.6 million of American children reside in food-insecure households, meaning they were hungry or at risk of hunger.
- According to the Hunger in America study, more than 25 million Americans seek food assistance each year:
- More than 40 percent of the 52,000 people surveyed reported having to choose between paying for utilities or heating fuel and food;
- 35 percent had to choose between paying for rent or a mortgage and food;
- 32 percent reported having to choose between paying for medical bills and food.
- In Douglas County, 53,000 people live below the poverty line—and 16,800 are children.
- Hunger and poor nutrition have been shown to have an adverse effect on a child's cognitive development.
- In at least 60 percent of the families seeking emergency food assistance in The Food Bank service area, one adult was working full-time.
- The Food Bank distributes between 5 to 7 million pounds of food each year.
- The Food Bank serves more than 360 food pantries and meal providers in Douglas County and western Iowa.
- The number of "meals" distributed by The Food Bank in 2006 equaled 7,752,810.
- More than 300,000 people in the Heartland benefit from The Food Bank.
- More than 300,000 meals have been served to children at The Food Bank's eight Kids Cafes.
- $100 provides 80 meals at one of The Food Bank's Kids Cafes.
- $1,200 provides 880 meals to children at one of The Food Bank's Kids Cafes.
- More than 500 children benefit from The Food Bank for Kids BackPack Program.
- $120 provides a child a BackPack of food each weekend during the school year.
To access the study, please go to: www.secondharvest.org/learn_about_hunger/methodology.pdf.
An interactive map showing child food insecurity state by state is at: www.secondharvest.org/childhunger.
