I'm not thirsty,
but I'm standing in line.
I'll have the usual
I'll have the usual
from John Hiat's song The Usual
The 2010 estimate, the most recent, says that 925 million people were undernourished in 2010. 925 million people is 13.6 percent of the estimated world population of 6.8 billion or almost 1 in 7 people are hungry. Nearly all of the undernourished are in developing countries. The number of hungry people has nearly doubled since 1995. The increase has been due to three factors: 1) neglect of agriculture relevant to very poor people by governments and international agencies 2) the current worldwide economic crisis and 3) the significant increase of food prices in the last several years which has been devastating to those with only a few dollars a day to spend.
Children are the most visible victims of under nutrition. Children who are poorly nourished suffer up to 160 days of illness each year. Poor nutrition plays a role in at least half of the 10.9 million child deaths each year--five million deaths. Under nutrition magnifies the effect of every disease, including measles and malaria. The estimated proportions of deaths in which under nutrition is an underlying cause are roughly similar for diarrhea (61%), malaria (57%), pneumonia (52%), and measles (45%). Malnutrition can also be caused by diseases, such as the diseases that cause diarrhea, by reducing the body's ability to convert food into usable nutrients.
Simply put every 6 seconds a child dies in the world as a result of hunger related problems.
If that is the usual, then something should change.
Thankfully it can thanks to organizations like Kids Against Hunger.
You can join the cause. May 19th in Hagerstown, Indiana Kids Against Hunger will conduct a packing event. Our goal is to raise the funds and the volunteers to pack 40,000 meals to help the fight against hunger. Want to help? Contact me direct @ rodney.frieden@inumc.orgMore information about the world hunger problem is available here.
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