Facts

Facts about World Hunger

By: Lauren Hollingsworth & Spencer Peyton

Hunger is a term that has three meanings.

1. The uneasy painful sensation caused by want of food; craving appetite.

Also the exhausted condition caused by want of food

2. The want or scarcity of food in a country

3. A strong desire or craving

*World hunger technically comes from the amount of malnutrition in the country, etc.

*Malnutrition indicates a lack of some or all nutritional elements necessary for health.

There are two types of malnutrition:

1. Protein energy - This is the most important type of malnutrition that indicates world hunger. It is basically a lack of protein and calories. Protein is important because it performs basic bodily functions like development and maintenance of muscles. 

 

2. Micronutrient - Vitamin and mineral deficiency which is still pretty important

*Obesity is now a form of malnutrition, it means poor nutrition and too many calories*

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+Asia and the Pacific has the biggest number of hungry people, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and then Developed countries.

+The world DOES produce enough food to feed everyone.

Poverty is the principal cause of hunger. Harmful economic systems are the principal cause of poverty and hunger. There is a conflict caused of hunger and poverty. Hunger is also a cause of poverty, and thus of hunger. Climate change is a cause of hunger and poverty in the present and in the future (An example of this would be Global Warming which causes 300,000 deaths a year says a study).

+The world is not making progress toward the world food summit goal

+Vitamin A deficiency comes from hunger and causes nigh blindness and reduces the body's resistance to disease. It can cause growth retardation as well.

+Iron deficiency is a principal cause of anemia and is caused by not enough food.

+Iodine deficiency disorders jeopardize children's mental health and sometimes their very lives.

 

Information from: 

http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm

7 million Children Die Needlessly Each Year

by Abraham

My name is Abraham. 7 Million Children Die Needlessly Each Year

Here’s How You Can Help

Despite our high tech gadgets, jaw dropping skyscrapers, and speedy bullet trains, the fact still remains that more than 7 million children under the age of 5 are dying each year.

The truth is that children die by the thousands each day because of malnutrition, pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria. What’s even more devastating is that these untimely deaths could have easily been prevented or treated with very simple cures, medications, and interventions.

Here we take a look at the most solvable problems and how you can help.

1. Malnutrition

Commonly referred to as the “silent killer”, malnutrition is most common in underdeveloped countries where food sources are scarce. Recent statistics also reveal that roughly 40% of all deaths in children are directly or indirectly triggered by hunger and starvation. Malnutrition is also the leading cause of physical and mental retardation in children.

While babies and toddlers slowly dying of hunger may seem uncommon in our modern world, the fact that it exists and continues to claim lives of helpless children should be impetus enough for us to act.

Help by:

Donating a Dollar

Food rations in impoverished countries cost roughly 29 cents and a dollar donation can go a long way to feeding these children who are unable to get enough sustenance to keep their body healthy.

2. Malaria

As per recent reports by the World Health Organization (WHO), the figures for young lives claimed by malaria still averages roughly 3,000 daily in Africa alone. That’s roughly 1 child per minute.

Help by:

Donating Mosquito Nets

Millions of families in Africa still lack access to protective mosquito nets which can help stop malaria. By donating insecticide-treated mosquito nets or 10 dollars, you can help reduce the death toll for malaria.

http://www.projectmosquitonet.org/

3. Diarrhea

Lack of clean water sources, proper sanitation, and access to medical care are three of the most basic reasons on why diarrhea still ranks as one of the leading killers in children.
http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/
http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/about/press-development-water

Help by:

Donating Oral Rehydration Salts

Diarrhea and dehydration comes hand in hand and more often than not it is the latter that claims the life of a child. By providing these children with a supply of oral rehydration salts, you can help give these babies and tots a better fighting chance at winning this battle.
New formula for oral rehydration salts will save millions of lives

Donating Water Purification Tablets
http://www.crs.org/haiti/basic-tools-and-teaching-help-fight-haiti-cholera/

Providing these little ones with access to clean water will help prevent diarrhea in the first place. One of the simplest and must effective ways to do so is through the use water purification tablets. With just one small tablet, you can help children a gallon of potable and safe drinking water. None of those actions take much time or money, but they will have a huge impact on the life and health of children around the world. Take a moment to be thankful of the life situation that you've been given,and consider sharing some of that goodness with child who is less fortunate.

Today, around 21,000 children died around the world

By reaching out to the most vulnerable people on earth, the most abandoned and the most impoverished, we are building a far better world for our children and for children everywhere.

Mia Farrow,

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

UNICEF