A recent study conducted by several pediatricians and published by the journal Academic Pediatrics identified a significant connection between “food insecurity” in children 18 and under, and mental health issues such as hyperactivity, trouble fitting in at school, and conduct problems.
Children who had problems getting enough food were more than twice as likely to suffer from these problems as those who had a stable source of food.
The researchers believe that the lack of regular food nutrients threatens growing children with physical underdevelopment including lack of brain development. This lack of neural development can also contribute to mental health issues. In the United States, 20 percent of households with children face food insecurity. That means that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, a nation who throws away roughly 40 percent of its food, one in five households go hungry.
As crazy as this sounds it is completely consistent with a capitalist economy where food is produced for profit, not for eating. The U.S. provides $20 billion annually in subsidies to the multi billion dollar industries that produce our food but refuses to spend money on children to prevent hunger.
In addition, we must look at the overall living situation in which hungry children find themselves. If a child’s family is unable to afford even the most basic of necessities then how will it provide opportunities for success in school and beyond? For example, Internet access is a powerful research tool for students but the cost of this connectivity as well as the computer needed to access it is far outside the reach of a family that cannot afford a daily lunch.
In addition, parents who are either desperately seeking employment or working several low paying jobs do not have the time to assist their children with their homework or protect them from trouble at school. When food is scarce the family’s focus becomes daily survival. Planning for future careers or higher education becomes secondary to finding a meal for the day.
Worst of all, the most defenseless members of society, children, are the most impacted by food scarcity. Unable to provide for themselves or find help, children are at the mercy of a system that starves them in order to put billions of dollars in the hands of a tiny few.
Often the working class is bullied or demoralized into accepting their circumstances yet few things can galvanize a parent like the suffering of their children. It is time parents everywhere rise up and demand a world in which no one, especially children, need go hungry.
