Food Insecurity Essay

1047 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of food insecurity essay pdf

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,

Show More
Related

  • Why the United States Continues to Give around Billions in Aid to Other Countries?

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    America has the highest overall and childhood poverty rate of any major industrialized country on earth. Nearly 45,000 people die in the United States each year, mostly because they lack health insurance and cannot get beneficial care. From an economic perspective and as the government tries to fight its way out of this terrible recession, it makes no sense that the United States ignores numerous citizens who could be of such great help (Sen. Bernie Sanders). Poverty in America is about a lack of basic necessities and an uncertainty as to where to get food, an uncertainty how to pay your most bills, and it's about a dependence on either imperfect government institutions or overwhelmed private charities. Even though the United States does not have starvation,...

    Read More

  • The Logic Of Stupid Poor People

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poverty is a complex and growing problem in the United States. As of right now there is no solution. There are proposals and acts, such as Obama Care, that were enacted in an attempt to help people in poverty, and there are so many organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity and The Hunger Project, that try to aid people when they start to lack the necessities, like food and shelter. College students are graduating college with a large amount of student loans and no way of paying them off, people are being evicted from their homes, and employees are being laid off. The unemployment rate in the United States in 2015 was five percent, that’s about fifteen million people. It’s becoming difficult for people to find jobs, therefore making it hard for people to get back on their feet and start living a comfortable lifestyle. Poverty in the

    Read More

  • Food Insecurity Among The Elderly

    1653 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Child Hunger in the USA

    1436 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty is one of the main causes of child hunger. Most people that live in poverty can't afford to buy food. All the money they have goes to housing bills. The effects are Families are homeless, parents don't have an education, health care is too expensive, violence is common, and children don't get a good education. Homelessness an effect on poverty. There is a lack of housing in the United States that people can afford. Even a minimum wage job isn't enough money to supply housing and food for a family with children. "Cuts in federal assistance for housing programs and social services have coincided with the rise in homelessness in the U.S."("Overview of Homelessness") This means that is harder to get housing because there are many budget cuts. Being homeless is hard on kids. It is hard for kids to do well in school because they have to move a lot more than the average kid. School can get interrupted. It can cause them to fall behind even having to repeat a grade. The long-term effect is having learning disabilities. ("Children and Hunger") Kids become homeless because they are being abused. They don't have anything so they start stealing and doin...

    Read More

  • Food Insecurity in the USA

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    The United States Department of Agriculture defines food unsecurity as the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, or the ability to acquire such food, is limited or uncertain for a household. Food insecurity also does not always mean that the household has nothing to eat. More simply stated it is the struggle to provide nutritional food for ones family and/or self. The people that suffer from food insecurity are not all living below the poverty line. In 2012 49.0 million people were considered food insecure in the United States of those 46.5 million were in poverty (Hunger & Poverty Statistics, 2012). For some individual’s food insecurity is only a temporary situation for others it maybe for extended period. Food insecurity due temporary situation such as unemployment, divorce, major medical or illness can be become more long term. The vast majority of these are families with children.

    Read More

  • Wealth Inequality In America Essay

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    Why are so a large number of people that beg for money, sitting on the streets, looking for food 's some sort? It is not day-to-day that we consider situations like this, but it is out there constantly without all of us realizing it. A number of states have poverty 's more issues than others, but it is sad to think about how plenty of people are actually considered to be in poverty. This is an inequality concerning me a lot, and is getting worse daily. Poverty in the United States relates to people whose annual household earnings are less than a poverty line set by the United States government. Poverty is common, resulted in by numerous different factors such as failing markets, structural problems, unfortunate mishaps, and poor individual

    Read More

  • African American Sociology

    1392 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the main causes of poverty is a lack of money. There are some families that do have at least one person employed in the household but the money earned is not enough to provide for the family. Tough decisions such as paying rent buying groceries become a daily challenge for struggling households. Those living in households headed by people with no high school degree are the most likely to enter poverty. Limited options in the job market make it hard for those without degrees the ability to find jobs that will pay above minimum wage. Many Americans earn less than the nation’s median income which hinders most Americans from living a life free of hunger. Children who grow up in poverty suffer more persistent, frequent, and severe health problems than do children who grow up under better financial circumstances. Children of poverty are at an extreme disadvantage and cycle ends up repeating itself until the pattern is somehow

    Read More

  • Food Insecurity In Texas

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    Food insecurity is not having reliable access to a sufficient amount of food to enjoy an active and healthy life. Hunger is a feeling of discomfort caused by the lack of food. Hunger would be difficult to measure, thus food insecurity is used to offer an accepted method for measuring food deprivation (Feeding Texas, n.d.). Food insecurity is a major issue in Texas. Texas ranks second highest nationally in total number of food insecure individuals (Camp, 2015). Texas also has a higher food insecure rate than the national average (Camp, 2015). People are embarrassed to talk about it and some fail to realize the lifelong negative effects the lack of nutrition can have. Those who do seek government assistance sometimes don’t qualify or don’t receive

    Read More

  • Food Inc Essay

    1528 Words  | 4 Pages

    America is a capitalist society. It should come to a surprise when we live like this daily. We work for profit. We’ll buy either for pleasure or to sell later for profit. It should come to no surprise that our food is made the same way because we are what we eat. We are capitalist that eat a capitalist meal. So we must question our politics. Is our government system to blame for accepting and encouraging monopolies?

    Read More

  • Essay On Food Insecurity In America

    1394 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Food insecure seniors are 60 percent more likely to develop depression, 53 and 40 percent more likely to report heart attacks and congestive heart failure, respectively, and 200 percent more likely to develop asthma.” (NCSL) On the other side of the spectrum, children also suffer greatly from food insecurity. Food is the most crucial key for children to grow and develop their bodies in order to function properly.” Additionally, the brain develops rapidly at a young age. Without the right nutrients, the brain cannot develop properly, resulting in long term effects on learning abilities.” (Borgen Project) This means that if children are lacking in nutrients to develop their minds, they will not be able to pay attention to their school materials and will end up falling behind in their classes. When children fall behind, it then leads to another issue with education and getting stable paying jobs. Adults also suffer from hunger in the same way that if they are not getting the proper amount of nutrients in their bodies they will also suffer have sleeping issues as well as being able to function at one hundred percent with their daily routines. While food insecurity seems like it may be impossible to end, there are many ways everyone can help combat food insecurity. There are programs in place already that helps people with food, however these programs can only help as much as everyone decides to help

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Hunger In America

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    To start with, the number of people affected by hunger continues to grow every day even though the world harvests an ample amount of food to meet human usage. Many people know that hunger exists in America

    Read More

  • Essay On Homeless Food

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    The social conditions in which homeless youth find themselves, may result in absence of or poor access to nutritious food. This can be defined as food insecurity, where an individual has the inability to consume an adequate diet (Health Canada, 2012). For the youth living on streets, education becomes an obstacle, which may lead to unstable work, and therefore inconsistent income. They have to settle with low value jobs to earn just enough to feed themselves on a daily basis – the hand-to-mouth concept. Therefore, there are very limited options that the homeless youth are left with when it comes to food. When buying food, they tend to choose the cheaper alternative foods which are usually unhealthy and have little to no nutritional value to the body. Examples of these kinds of food include pizza, burgers, or perishable food items that are ready-to-eat (Dachner & Tarasuk, 2002). From our everyday experience, one can say that too much unhealthy foods can cause long-term health issues, ranging from diabetes to heart disease. Eventually, the immune system weakens, and serious complications may occur for the individual. It may be difficult for the homeless youth to access any health care services; so many times the symptoms for these diseases can go undiagnosed. At times, the homeless youth tend to go extending periods of time without food, resulting in intense hunger. Hunger is the consequence of food insecurity. It is the resulting feeling of discomfort, weakness, illness and pain – all of which play a great role on the health of youth (Jovanovic, Lecture 9). Though free food is available through charitable food programs such as food banks, they may not be accessible and travelling may not be an option, especially if they suffer fro...

    Read More

  • Essay On Food Insecurity

    1859 Words  | 4 Pages

    Food insecurity and poor nutrition is an alarmingly large problem for low income families, especially in developing countries. Many strategies exist to fight this problem, although not many of these address all the factors contributing to it along with all the possible solutions to solve it. In many cases, multiple strategies must correlate and work together so that all the determinants of this issue are addressed and can fight food insecurity from different angles. This essay will discuss the significance of the problem, a range of possible strategies to solve the problem, and go into detail on a select few that will correlate and work together to solve different factors of food insecurity and poor nutrition.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Children And Poverty

    1952 Words  | 4 Pages

    Being hungry makes an average human being unfocused and emotionally unstable. For children, being hungry is worse because they lack the nutrition to grow and learn. Children will be unable to focus on school because they are too hungry to concentrate on anything else. Most families in poverty struggle to feed their children and can’t afford to buy nutritional food and instead purchase food that is the cheapest with the great amount. Families that do not make enough income rely on food stamps. However, families that make a little, emphasis on the little, over the standard income are disqualified for the program. In other words, they are stuck; they make too little to provide enough food for the table and yet make too much to receive food stamps.

    Read More

  • Impact Of Childhood Hunger Essay

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Feeding America Program states that “Children growing up in food-insecure families are vulnerable to poor health and stunted development from the earliest stages of life” and that “food insecurity among young children is associated with poorer physical quality of life, which may prevent them from fully engaging in daily activities such as school and social interaction with peers” (Feeding America)

    Read More

More about Food Insecurity Essay

Open Document