Our Hungry Earth A look at World Hunger

Our Hungry Earth A look at World Hunger

What is Hunger? According to the 2015 World Hunger and Poverty Facts from hungernotes. com, the term hunger has 3 meanings: • The uneasy or painful sensation caused by the want of food; craving appetite. Also, the exhausted condition caused by the want of food • The want on scarcity of food in a country. • A strong desire or craving. World hunger refers to the second definition in worldly perspective. The other related technical term is malnutrition, which refers to not having enough food. There are two types of malnutrition/undernutrition: • The first and most common is proteinenergy malnutrition. (PEM) It’s a lack of protein and calories. Food is converted to energy by humans and the energy contained in food is measured in calories. Protein is necessary for many key body functions. This is the most lethal form of hunger • The second type of malnutrition is micronutrient deficiency. (vitamin and mineral) However, it is not the malnutrition referred to when speaking

Starvation is the severe deficiency in caloric energy intake needed to maintain human life, according to Wikipedia. org. The article “Starvation” says starvation cause permanent organ damage and eventually death. The World Health Organization states that starvation is the single largest threat to the world’s public health. Also, malnutrition is the biggest contributing factor to child mortality, present in half of all cases. Malnutrition is a factor in the death of 1. 3

Main Causes I also read on this article that the most common cause of starvation is the economy. Because of poverty, its difficult for people to be able to eat. It is also due to food scarcity in the society. This causes decreased supply of food to the whole of the population, causing mass starvation.

Signs and Symptoms All movements become very There is not enough scientific data painful due to muscle atrophy on how long a human can live and the skin becomes dry and without food. Although that length of cracked due to dehydration. time obviously depends on the With this weakness, the person’s body fat and general health, individual is susceptible to complete starvation leads to death Early symptoms include impulsivity, irritability, many kinds of diseases. Fungi within 8 to 12 weeks. and hyperactivity. Atrophy can grow under the esophagus, (wasting away) weakens making it hard to swallow. the perception of hunger. People experiencing starvation lose fat and muscle mass as the body breaks down these tissues for energy. Vitamin deficiency can occur, which. can cause anemia, beri, pellagra, and scurvy As the person becomes to weak to even walk, their interaction with the world also becomes weaker. In females, menstruation stops when body fat percentage is to low to withstand a fetus.

Treatments Starving patients can be treated, but this must be done in a cautious manner. Rest and warmth must be provided and maintained. Small sips of water and glucose must be given regularly to the patient. Later on, food can be given in small amounts and gradually be increased over time.

Staggering Statistics These are some of the astonishing statistics of world hunger from the World Food Programme organization. • Some 925 million people in the world do not have enough to eat. That’s roughly 1 in 9 people. • Asia is the continent with the most hungry people. Two thirds of the total population. • Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest prevalence of hunger. 1 in 4 people there is undernourished. • 1 out of 6 children- roughly 100 million in developing countries is underweight. • If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million. • 66 million primary school aged children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million alone in Africa. • Every 3. 5 seconds someone dies of hunger.

World Contributions Fortunately, there are many large organizations that fight to end world hunger. According to World Hunger Organizations List from Hunger Math, these are some of the many great organizations: • Action Against Hunger: A global humanitarian organization committed to ending world hunger. • Bread for the World: Urges our nation’s leaders to end hunger, • Freedom from Hunger: brings poor women from Africa , Asia, and Latin America a powerful handful of vital needs such as food. • Food for the Hungry: is a Christian organization that has served the poor since 1971. • Stop Hunger Now: distributes food and other life saving aids to children and families all over the world. • World Food Programme: Is the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger.

My Contributions In my opinion, being the kind hearted person I am, it is a real shame that world hunger even exists to begin with. We often don’t appreciate the little and big things in our life like the roof over our heads, the clothing keeping us warm, and the plates of unwanted food that we throw away. This project has been a real eye opener for me and a true life learning experience. Some of the world hunger statistics really stunned me and motivated me to give my small piece of contribution and the help of my teachers at my school. I donated 14 cans of food to one of the food banks in my city. Although it is obviously a small donation, I honestly feel as though I have made a big difference and set an example to young people like me. It is usually us, the youth, who become blinded by things that have no importance or significant value, such as money, and we are totally unaware of what is happening in