Essay On Hunger In America

When I was in the seventh grade, my teacher spoke to us on the topic of hunger. To convince us of its enormity, she said to us, “Can you imagine, being in situation where you are starving, with barely any strength to go on, but still giving up any food you can salvage for your children. Your baby cries in agony from the extreme pain the hunger is causing, and you have to accept that you cannot do anything to help them. Can you imagine watching your child slowly die in your arms?” To this day, I remember that moment as the first time I truly understood the severity of hunger. The world consists of 7.398 billion people. Of those 7.398 billion people, 795 million are starving. And of those 795 million people, 3.1 million of them will be children

It seems impossible that there could also be people starving in the United States. In reality, 16 million children in America are not receiving the proper amount of food they need. That is equivalent to more than 1 in 5 children. According to Feeding America, in Florida alone, 26.7% of households experience Childhood Food Insecurity, which is defined as the limited availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods within a household. That equals to a startling 1.1 million children who are food insecure in Florida. It is especially important for children in early childhood to be supplied with the proper amount of nutrition to ensure proper growth. Between the first three years of a child’s life, there is a vital period of brain development, which requires a large amount nutrients. In particular, protein, iodine, and iron are three factors that have great affects on brain development. If the brain cannot develop properly, there can be massive affect on cognitive development, which is the construction of thought processes which includes remembering, problem-saving, and decision making. Another major development that could be affected is motor developments, which involve the movements of a child’s