The Central Importance of the Issue of Food Insecurity in Children in the United States

What would it be like to never have enough food? To be unable to focus in school or work because of hunger pangs and dreams of a full belly? Almost one in six Americans have to deal with food insecurity, which costs the U.S. economy $168 billion per year (Eichler, 2011). The saddest example of food insecurity lies with our nation’s children; according to Feeding America, one in five children in the United States live in a household in which food insecurity is present. That means there are almost 17 million kids in the wealthiest and most developed country in the world who are not getting enough to eat (Feeding America.org, 2013). This crisis needs to be resolved, and current programs, which will be discussed later on, are not sufficient. Of all the issues with which modern-day America has to deal, food insecurity in children needs to be of central importance. The future of the nation depends upon it.

Food insecurity is defined as “a limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food resulting from constraints in economic resources” (Whitaker, Phillips, & Orzol, 2006). Feeding America gives a much more concise definition: a person is considered as “food insecure” if they do not know where their next meal will come from (Feeding America, 2013). Although it is possible to be food insecure because of lack of access to adequate nutrition (for example, if a person does not live in an area reached by affordable fruits and vegetables), the type that will be addressed here is caused directly because of the above-mentioned reason: lack of financial resources.

In order to best understand the impact that food insecurity has on children, some relevant statistics dealing with the health consequences of food insecurity must be presented. In a study conducted by Cook et al, children that were food insecure had almost a 50% chance, as compared to their food-secure counterparts, of having their health status rated as fair/poor.

These smaller chains offer limited fresh produce and only maintain a stock of shelf-stable, low-nutrient snack foods. Often larger chain grocery stores that carry fresh produce are generally inaccessible due to lack of transportation. Increasing accessibility of nutrient rich foods is dependent on the support of local farmers. Tax subsidies, common for large producers of corn and soy, could be spread out supporting farmers to get their products to places where 1 in 6 Americans facing hunger. Our concerns for resources should be equally as concerning as acceptance of diversity and availability of food.

Cite this page