Hunger Leads to Health Problems for Children

(August 3, 2010) - Hunger isn't the only problem children face when they don't have enough food. It can lead to numerous health problems as well. Children and youth who experience hunger appear more likely to have health problems, and repeated episodes of hunger may be particularly toxic, according to a report in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Food insecurity - a lack of adequate access to food for financial reasons - affected approximately 15 percent of American households in 2008, according to background information in the article. This marks an increase from 11 percent in 2007 and the highest prevalence since monitoring began in 1995. Child hunger is an extreme manifestation of food insecurity, defined as a period of time when children experience being hungry because their family has run out of food or the money to buy food.

Researchers analyzed data from a survey of 5,809 children age 10 to 15 years and 3,333 youth age 16 to 21 years over a 10-year period, from 1994 to 2004-2005. During this time, 3.3 percent of children and 3.9 percent of youth had ever experienced hunger and 1.1 percent of children and 1.4 percent of youth were hungry at two or more time points.

Overall, more than one in 10 children (13.5 percent) and one in four youth (28.6 percent) reported poor health in the final round of the survey. Rates of poor health were higher among those who were hungry at any time than among those who had never experienced hunger (32.9 percent vs. 12.8 percent for children and 47.3 percent vs. 27.9 percent for youth). The association between hunger and poor health among children persisted after adjustment for baseline health and for other household markers of disadvantage, including low income and lack of home ownership.

Although one episode of hunger was not associated with chronic conditions or with asthma (Read about "Asthma"), youth who were hungry more than once during the survey were more likely to have asthma or any chronic illness than those who had never been hungry.

Related Information:

    Dietary Guidelines