These are sort of dated figures, from 2002 and 2003. I could probably find more updated ones. The numbers of children who go to school hungry sometimes are even higher, I believe, and it is almost impossible to learn when you are hungry. An exerpt from the report below:
Approximately four million American children under age 12 go hungry and about 9.6 million more are at risk of hunger according to estimates based on the results of a comprehensive study on childhood hunger in the United States released in 1995 — the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP). This estimate means that 29 percent of children under age 12 in the United States live in families that must cope with hunger or the risk of hunger during some part of one or more months of the year. The CCHIP study was a precursor for the USDA/Census Bureau hunger measure, and acted as a model for the hunger survey that was developed by these two government agencies.
Okay, this is the full report:
Studies on Hunger in the United States
U.S. Department of Agriculture — Household Food Security in the United States, 2002
In October 2003, the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a national report that showed a growing prevalence of food insecurity and hunger in the United States in 2002:
In 2002, 34.9 million people lived in households experiencing food insecurity, compared to 33.6 million in 2001 and 31 million in 1999.
11.1 percent of US households (12 million households) experienced either food insecurity or hunger in 2002.
Since 1995, USDA, using data from surveys conducted annually by the Census Bureau, has released estimates of the number of people in households that are either food insecure or hungry. Black (22 percent) and Hispanic (21.7 percent) households experienced food insecurity at double the national average.
In addition, the prevalence of food insecurity for households in central cities (14.4 percent) and rural areas (11.6 percent) substantially exceeded the rate for other households (8.8 percent).
The food insecurity rates for households with elderly persons jumped in one year from 5.5 to 6.3 percent, and from 6.1 to 7.4 percent for elderly persons living alone.
The states with the highest food insecurity rates in order were Utah, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, all with rates above 14 percent of households, well above the national average.
See FRAC's statement on this report.
National Center for Health Statistics — National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), is the most comprehensive health examination survey in the United States. Scientists and nutritionists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and at universities rely heavily on the information that NHANES gathers to help determine just what Americans are eating. Also, as the food consumers find in their grocery stores and eat changes, NHANES helps monitor whether these new foods and dietary changes actually are in the best interest of our health.
An article in the American Journal of Public Health in March 1998 reported on NHANES III, which found that 10 million Americans, including 4 million children, suffer from hunger. According to this survey, which was conducted from 1988 to 1994, employment is not a guarantee of being well fed: more than half of the Americans who say they are sometimes or often hungry due to lack of income live in households in which at least one person has a job. The survey found that people most at risk for not having enough to eat were children and the poor.
Journal of the American Medical Association — Report on Hunger Among Adults at a Minneapolis Public Hospital
A study carried out during the first half of 1997 found hunger and food insecurity to be prevalent problems among adult patients seeking medical care at the Hennepin County Medical Center, a public hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The authors suggest that this is likely to be typical of other public hospital populations and found that out of the 567 patients interviewed (52% of whom had incomes below $10,000):
24% reported decreasing the size of meals or skipping meals because they could not afford food.
12% said they did not have enough food.
13% reported not eating for an entire day because they could not afford food.
14% said they were hungry but didn't eat because they could not afford food.
28% reported that their food supply would not last until they had money to buy more.
28% reported putting off paying a bill in order to buy food.
27% reported receiving emergency food during the past year.
Forty percent of the respondents had received food stamps during the previous year and half of them had had their food stamps reduced or eliminated during that year. Patients who had food stamps reduced or eliminated were significantly more likely to report food insecurity and hunger than those whose food stamp allotment remained stable or who had never received food stamps.
The study was initiated by a physician who discovered that several of her diabetic patients had quit taking insulin because they could not afford food — a life-threatening situation for a person with diabetes. In this study, of the 103 diabetic individuals who reported hypoglycemic reactions (i.e., low blood sugar), 32 said it was because they could not afford food. The diabetics interviewed had rates of food insecurity and hunger that were quite similar to the rest of the individuals in the study.
Physicians for Human Rights — Hunger at Home: A Study of Food Insecurity and Hunger among Legal Immigrants in the United States
A study carried out in March 1998 among Latino and Asian legal immigrants in 13 hospitals and community-based clinics and community centers in California, Texas and Illinois found a high prevalence of food insecurity and hunger. According to the authors, these three states represent a high percentage of the total number of legal immigrants residing in the United States. Using methodology developed and tested by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Agriculture, medical researchers found that, of the 682 households included in the study:
79% were hungry or food insecure (forced to cut back on the nutritional quality and overall quantity of food consumed due to lack of resources) — seven times the rate in the general U.S. population.
More than one in three of the immigrant households surveyed reported suffering from moderate or severe hunger, meaning that adults and children were experiencing hunger caused by lack of resources. (Among households in this category, adults and children skip meals, cut the size of meals, or go without food for an entire day due to lack of resources to purchase food.)
The authors report that, in each of the states covered by the survey, when food stamps were terminated for legal immigrants on a national level, temporary measures for only partial replacement of food stamps occurred at the state level.
Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) — Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project: A Survey of Childhood Hunger in the United States
Approximately four million American children under age 12 go hungry and about 9.6 million more are at risk of hunger according to estimates based on the results of a comprehensive study on childhood hunger in the United States released in 1995 — the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP). This estimate means that 29 percent of children under age 12 in the United States live in families that must cope with hunger or the risk of hunger during some part of one or more months of the year. The CCHIP study was a precursor for the USDA/Census Bureau hunger measure, and acted as a model for the hunger survey that was developed by these two government agencies.
II. RESEARCH ON THE DEMAND FOR EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE
America's Second Harvest — Hunger in America 2001
Other evidence that many people are hungry in America comes from the widespread reports of increases in the number of households seeking "emergency food" at emergency feeding programs, food pantries and soup kitchens.
In a recent national survey of emergency feeding programs, Hunger in America 2001, America's Second Harvest found that their food bank network of emergency food providers served 23 million people in a year (9 percent more than were served in 1997), and more than 9 million of those served were children. Nearly two-thirds of adult emergency food recipients were women, and more than one in five were elderly.
Among all America's Second Harvest emergency food recipients, 71 percent were food insecure. This percentage increased to 76 percent among households with children.
Not surprisingly, many reported having to make choices between paying for food and paying for other necessities, such as utilities, housing, or medical care. Yet, only 30 percent of emergency food recipients participated in the Food Stamp Program, although almost three-fourths were income-eligible. Of those emergency food clients not enrolled in the Food Stamp Program, 31.5 percent believed that they were not income eligible, yet one in five of those who believed they were not eligible actually were. Of those who had not applied, 37 percent believed they were not eligible, 34 percent found the program too difficult to apply for, and 7 percent didn't apply because of the stigma they felt would be associated with program participation.
U.S. Conference of Mayors — Hunger and Homelessness 2003 (December 2003)
The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) presents an annual survey on requests for emergency assistance in some of the nation's major cities. In December 2003, the USCM reported that requests for emergency food assistance increased in 88 percent of the 25 cities surveyed. Across the cities, requests increased an average of 17 percent.
The survey also documented increased needs among families with children and elderly persons as well as insufficient resources to fully meet needs in many cities. An average of 14 percent of the demand for emergency food assistance is estimated to have gone unmet in survey cities during the last year. Forty percent of cities said emergency food assistance programs were not able to provide an adequate quantity of food. For more details, see FRAC's special analysis of the USCM report.
Catholic Charities USA — 2000 Annual Survey
Catholic Charities USA, the nation's largest private human service organization, provided food services to 3,929,387 people in 2000, including 1,720,448 served through food banks and pantries, 734,678 in soup kitchens, 646,213 in congregate dining, 144,112 through home delivered meals, and 683,936 through other food services.
III. HUNGER AS A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE
NYC Welfare Reform and Human Rights Documentation Project — Hunger is No Accident: NY and Federal Welfare Policies Violate the Human Right to Food (2000)
In Hunger Is No Accident: NY and Federal Welfare Policies Violate the Human Right to Food, the NYC Welfare Reform and Human Rights Documentation Project described violations of the right to food at the NYC, state, and federal levels of government. Diversion, programmatic barriers, discrimination, degradation, and arbitrary and inappropriate case closings by NYC officials denied needy applicants access to food stamps and welfare. State government failed to use some and and redirected other funds from the $1 billion TANF surplus and failed to adequately monitor NYC's welfare department. Federal officials did not adequately fund Food Stamps and weakened the program through welfare reform. Along with citing government and program statistics, the Project surveyed 212 public assistance applicants and completed in-depth follow-up interviews for this report.
updated December 2003
frac.org |
