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Introduction to food insecurity
About food insecurity
Food insecurity around the world
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Food insecurity is a concerning issue that need to be addressed in our current society. In population such as the elderly it is alerting issue. For instance, many older adults lack access, have chronic health conditions and limited support when obtaining food. As result older adults experience nutritional complication such as malnourishment and sometimes death. To reduce the complications associated with food insecurity in the elderly population interventions are needed. This paper will highlight several interventions that addressed the issue of food insecurity among the elderly population. Lastly, this paper will provide detail information on which intervention will be the best approach in increasing food intake and nourishment among the …show more content…
As noted by Wolfe, Frongillo, & Valois, (2003) hardships such as functional impairments, chronic health problems and money are major causes of food insecurity among the elderly. The US Department of Agriculture 's Continuing Survey of Food provided data on dietary intakes and behaviors were obtained from the elderly. There data showed that that lower-income elderly consume significantly fewer calories than higher-income elderly, fewer servings of major Food Guide Pyramid food groups, and most nutrients. Additionally, 6% of elderly households report some degree of food insecurity. Interventions have been established to reduce rates of food insecurity among the elderly. This paper will highlight several interventions that have played a significant role in strengthening access to nutrition among the elderly. More importantly, how interventions have been created at the individual, interpersonal, community and societal …show more content…
Specifically, a food education program that includes elderly having hands on experience through cooking methods, provides an understanding of healthy food choices, while improving nutrition (Chung, Louisa Ming Yan, Chung, Joanne Wai Yee, 2014). According to Chung et al. (2014), “the implementation of a food education program provided an alternative health approach to tackle the problem of nutritional status in elderly people”. By having nutrition education combined with cooking classes with peer support is also beneficial for older adults who experience limited nutrition (Jyväkorpi,Pitkälä, Kautiainen, Puranen, Laakkonen & Suominen, 2012). For instance, peer support under the interpersonal level encourages older individuals to want to eat food with nutritional value to live longer for those peers who are supporting them through the
Food insecurity is one of the major social problems that we have in our world today. The concern about this problem is the increasing number of people that are beginning to experience hunger more often. “While hunger has long been a public health concern in developing countries, it has received varying degrees of attention in the United States, most notable during the 1930s and 1960s” (Poppendieck 1992). In addition to lack of food, there are consequences that follow. People, especially children, who suffer from food deprivation also undergo some health issues such as malnutrition and obesity, which leads to more health care and hospitalizations. “In the early 1980s, most reports of hunger involved families with children, the elderly, the unskilled and unemployed youth, the mentally ill, the homeless and minorities” (Brown 1992; Nestle and Guttmacher 1992). However, a particular ethnic group that is greatly affected by food insecurities are the Hispanic...
An important issue for Today is how can we make people pick the best nutritional option because giving the poor easy access to healthy food doesn’t mean they’ll buy It. For example, “In 2010, the Morrisania section of the Bronx
The federal Food Stamp Program is an assisted nutrition program that helps millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families (United States Department of Agriculture). This program gives its recipients extra money each month to try to help them have better food security. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is also the largest program in the federal safety net (United States Department of Agriculture). In Ohio’s Appalachian counties, there are 515,300 recipients which is 25.4% of the population (Job and Family Services). The Supplemental Nutrition Program is a good program except for one problem that can be fixed relatively fast and one problem that it will take a little time to solve. The problem that can be fixed right away is that the Supplemental Nutrition Program can be abused by the recipients buying junk food instead of healthy food. The problem that will take some time to fix is that some recipients make unhealthy food choices because they do not have access to a local supermarket. In order to fix these two problems the Food Stamp Program needs to better regulate what can be bought with the Food Stamp card and items in convenient stores need to be better stocked in order to keep accepting Food Stamp cards.
A community health assessment of the Hillside-Quadra area was performed and considered various aspects of the community, including the population, the socioeconomic environment, and health and social services. Personal communication with some of the residents determined that food insecurity is of major significance for many in the community. “Food insecurity exists within a household when one or more members do not have access to the variety or quantity of food they need due to lack of money” (Statistics Canada, 2015). Community kitchens (CK), are easily adapted to an IFK concept, have been implemented by two communities within Victoria (Appendix B; Personal Communication) and are capable of serving as a public health initiative that benefits the communities they serve (Iacovou et al.,
In the year 2015, around 40 million U.S. citizens were food insecure (Randall para. 3). Food insecurity can be defined in paragraph 3 by “[having] difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources. This 12.7% of American citizens also contains another group - children. Aged 10-17, 6.8 million adolescents struggle with a food insecurity. There have been several years of cuts to the social programs designed to help these people, along with the Great Recession continuing to leave an impact on the U.S. economy (para. 6). Under the Obama administration, $8.6 billion was cut from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps. From 1993-2001 under the Clinton administration, former President Bill Clinton’s administration “gutted the welfare system” (para. 15). Because of these budget cuts, the families who rely on food assistance from the government have been allotted less throughout the years. From a sociological perspective, the concepts of sociological imagination, class stratification, and social location are in effect when it comes to child hunger in the United States. Being hungry is an issue larger than any one individual can control.
Food insecurity does not discriminate; it reaches many segments of society (Whitney, DeBruyne, Pinna, & Rolfes, 2007). Even through closely related to poverty, not all that have food insecurities are in poverty. Often it is the working poor that are hit the hardest. The working poor are a group that despite having a job, there income is too low to meet their need or that of their family. Most of the working poor (56%) live in families with children, so that the poverty of these workers affects many others as well (Problems Facing the Working Poor, Kim 1999). Many lower to middle class families will temporarily struggle with food insecurity at various times during the year. For these families government assistance may not immediately available. Appling for Supplemental Nutrition Assistanc...
Rosenbaum, D. & Neuberger, Z. (2005, August 17). Food and nutrition programs: Reducing hunger and bolstering nutrition. Retrieved from http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=510
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, increases in housing costs, unemployment, and inflation in the cost of food. These factors have caused food banks to see a change in the groups of people needing assistance.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has been very beneficial to many households that do not know where their next meal is coming from by providing them with resources to acquire food. Many of those food insecure households, however, are faced with high rates of obesity that leads to a variety of other health issues. Research has shown that increasing nutritional education through programs that teach people to read labels and balance their diet works and can decrease obesity rates. Low income and minority households, the populations most affected by the issues of food insecurity and obesity, are especially in need of nutritional education. By expanding nutritional education for those households most at risk of obesity, a public health initiative could decrease the obesity levels in SNAP participants.
malnutrition, but his family can help him by offering him healthy snacks whenever possible. His family can also let him know about the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program. This program can offer him healthy meals, social activities, and much more.
Malnutrition in the elderly is often underdiagnosed. Careful nutritional assessment is necessary for both the successful diagnosis and development of comprehensive treatment plans for malnutrition in this population. My residents prefer to eat traditional Korean food and they go grocery shopping once in twice week and spend around $100 each. They receive extra foods such as canned goods, juices, cerealetc. from the nutrition program for senior.Although they maintainhealthy eating with balanced diet with variety of food sources, their BMI are less than body requirement. Thus, from the short assessment for nutritious condition of my residents (nutritional history, dietary restriction or history, medical history) and from the grocery shopping assessment, I recommend them theimportance of maintaining adequate caloric intake; minimum Kcal 2000 per day including the basic four group of food as well as vitamins and mineral adequately, provide referral to community nutritional resources such as Meals-on-Wheels or hot lunch programs for seniors as indicated and encourage exercise to increase appetite. Lastly, I recommend them to establish appropriate short and long range of goal otherwise they may lose interest in addressing this
As a change maker and full-time on-campus student, the issue I would address is food insecurity on campus. By that, I mean the affordability and accessibility to healthier venues at the food court. Many students are struggling with a lack of getting nutritional food at school. It is happening because healthy and nutrition food is too expensive to get. It is easier for a student to buy a cheap burger and soda on campus rather than get a healthy salad and juice. Between paying rent, paying utilities and then trying to buy food, that is where the most insecurity faced because food choice is the most flexible. Every year tuition is rising, but no challenge on the food-related issue on campus. Most of the students are recognizing this problem,
Decades later, and even in a new age of American “freedom” and “opportunities,” not much has really changed. In the American food industry, the presence of an oppressive class system is very rampant; hidden from view, but influential as ever. Because the way the food reaches our plates straight from the stores makes it seem like a simple method of growing and transporting, the complex system, or system of systems, is very much hidden behind a wall of what it seems to be. Citizens fail to realize that in this food supply chain, everyone plays a vital role, whether directly or passively contributing to the system. In 1880, roughly “80% of Americans worked in agriculture toiling to feed themselves and others,” which is now reduced to 2% of Americans
In conclusion, fighting food insecurity and poor nutrition among low income families, particularly in developing countries, is a complex task. It requires many different strategies as there are many factors influencing hunger and why it occurs. The three strategies chosen are effective on their own, but implemented together will address many more of the determinants causing this issue. The World Food Programmes strategy is a quick fix when solving this problem and is not sustainable, but alongside Oxfam and MicroLoans strategies, they would all make an extremely positive change in how food insecurity looks today.
Hunger and appetite are the two factors that drive our desire to eat. Hunger is the physiological drive to find and eat food. It is controlled primarily by internal body mechanisms, such as organs, hormones, hormone like factors, and the nervous system. Appetite is the psychological drive to eat. Appetite is affected mostly by external factors that encourage us to eat, such as social custom, time of day, mood, memories of pleasant tastes, and the sight of foods (Wardlaw’s perspective, 326). I live in a sorority house with 40+ other girls so who I eat my meals with varies greatly. Everyone is busy with their own schedules so I eat meals alone every once and a while and I also eat meals with 40 other people. Living in the sorority can make it