October has been a month of powerful messages. Besides breast cancer awareness, it has also been hunger awareness month but you probably didn’t notice. October 16 was “World Food Day” founded and sponsored by the World Health Organization. Hunger and malnutrition remain significant public health issues in many parts of the world.
But here is something that may surprise you: 1 in 6 adults living (and many working) in the United States experience food insecurity: not having sufficient financial or other resources to obtain enough food for themselves or their families. And yet, 2 of 3 adults and 1 of 3 children and adolescents are considered obese; often the same food-insecure individuals and families.
The purpose of Food Day in the United States is to draw attention to the hunger issues in our own nation, support community gardening and sustainable agriculture, promote nutrition and food education in our schools, and to encourage all Americans to “Eat Real”.
When an adult or child does not consistently eat adequate amounts of calories on a daily basis, the metabolism over time favors storage rather than burning those calories for fuel. Just because a child is overweight does not mean that he/she is well-nourished. Only when a child is routinely underfed does he/she exhibit weight loss and the stick-thin appearance we have come to identify with malnutrition.
I could have written about this prior to the day and give some additional exposure. But hunger exists every day for the food insecure. Lindsay and I held a food drive for the local food pantry at the hospital where we both work. What can you do to be a part of the solution?
Post by Nadine