Children beaten by hunger shall not be associated merely with African and Asian developing countries. As for 2010, nearly 15 percent of American household with children were food insecure predominantly because of their poverty. Unemployment also correlates with the problem of hunger, however, many food insecure households reported to have at least one employed member. Therefore, low wages are also considered to boost hunger.
All food insecure children have a weakened health. Deficiency of essential nutrients deters a little organism from a proper growth and leads to retardation in the development and increased hospitalization. Childhood is the time when human body needs the largest amount of material to construct more tissues, and food insecurity has the most dramatic consequences upon bodily functions at this stage. A mood of kids is no less sensitive to the lack of nutrition. Attention deficit disorder, aggression, depression, and anxiety frequently result from the poor food intake.
Children of a school age raised by families which cannot provide a proper nutrition experience certain difficulties in their everyday life. Weakened immune system makes these kids vulnerable to infections which spread so quickly among peers. Children from food insecure households frequently stay at home being ill which is directly reflected in their attendance and academic performance. In the classes, they cannot catch teacher’s explanation as quickly as their healthy peers and their grades steadily decline.
The most upsetting consequence for children who grow in food insecure households is their inability to break an endless circle of poverty. In the first place, these kids cannot graduate from high school because of poor grades and then weak health will make any occupation inevitable for children from insecure families.