Factors of Food Insecurity

“We cant close the gap on health unless we talk about nutrition”. The issue of food security can have a negative impact on the wellbeing of individuals and families in Australia, there are a number of different groups who are more vulnerable to food insecurity than others, due to social whereabouts. Food insecurities is defined as “ access by all people at all times to enough food for an active healthy life” by saying this Australia has been shown as food secure but this has people asking “why are certain groups and cultures running out of food to feed there families through out the year, if we are food secure?’ about 5% of Australians suffer from food insecurities this is usually caused by the access they have to food or the inadequate food

Food insecurity is the “state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food,” according to the Oxford Dictionary. It is a widespread problem on college campuses across the nation. While food insecurity only impacts 14% of households, 48% of college students claim to be food insecure. This problem disproportionately impacts first generation college students, students of color, and students who need financial aid, as noted by the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness.

For most Americans, the word poverty means insufficient access to to housing, clothing and nutritious food that meet their needs for a healthy life. A consequence of poverty is a low socioeconomic status that leads to being exposed to poor nutrition. Since food and dietary choices are influenced by income, poverty and nutrition go hand in hand. There are many important factors that threaten the nutritional status of poor people. The number one factor is not having enough money to buy food of good quality and quantity. Not having enough money can have a profound impact on the diets of low-income people. Limited financial resources may force low income people to make difficult decisions about what kind and how much food to buy. Limited

Nutrition is important for healthy life. Many people are still hungry around the world even though there is mass production of food. This is because of unhealthy food production. In today’s world we see many obese people because of high intake of high fat and cholesterol containing food. It is important to have a healthy diet/ nutritional intake for individuals to have good foundation for physical and mental health. Now a day’s healthy food is getting more expensive rather than unhealthy food. Poor people are forced to eat unhealthy food, while the rich can afford to eat whatever the please. Food insecurity is caused by individuals not having healthy food for their families due to their low income or political and

For this paper, I would like to discuss the hunger issues we have in the United States. Nearly 18 million households in the US remain “food insecure” (Tanner, 2013). Being food insecure is when some does not know when or how they are going to receive their next meal. Children are not receiving the necessary nutrition they need to be able to grow and develop properly and many people in the US are becoming obese because of the unhealthy food that is available for people at such a low price. As of July of 2015, 45,480,644 people received benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition

Food insecurity affects more than 48 million Americans every year (McMillan). Those who reside in food insecure homes can generally not afford healthy foods, therefore increasing the incidence of obesity and other resultant chronic disorders. According to The American Journal of Public Health, “Food insecurity has been shown to diminish dietary quality and affect nutritional intake and has been associated with chronic morbidity (e.g., type 2 diabetes, hypertension) and weight gain” (Nguyen, Shuval, Bertmann, & Yaroch, 2015, p. 1453). Those who live without adequate access to nutritional food, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, have higher rates of obesity not because of the amount of food they eat, but the poor nutritional value of affordable meals.

“Food insecurity isn’t a measure of hunger; it is based on the measure of a person’s financial circumstances and their perception of how much food they can afford to buy.” It is estimated that 31 million people in the United States have experienced either food insecurity or actual hunger (George, 1). Roughly a third of food insecure households have  “very low food security.” And the number of people going hungry has grown dramatically in the U.S. “increasing to 48 million by 2012 (McMillan,1) has caused one in five children to grow up in poverty which has affected academic performance and social skills”. “In 1980 there were

The implications due to this social issue can implicate a client’s life in so many arenas including their health physically, mentally, and emotionally. Due to this addressing food, insecurity needs consideration within social welfare and social services concerns.

Food is a basic need; in an ideal world, food would be a resource that could be equally accessible to any and all persons. Although, in more recent times, terms such as food deserts and food insecurity have been the topic of many conversations that concern different socioeconomic groups and how that relates to their overall health. Food deserts are communities where occupants who live in an area in which affordable and healthy foods are not in close proximity or readily available. An article written by Nadine L. Camp, a nurse practitioner at Children’s National Medical Center stated that food insecurities have been on the rise in the United States with a prevalence within at least 15% of households and around 20% of households with children

Hunger stalks America and many other countries. How the world deals with hunger is dependent on cultural attitudes and the understanding of what hunger means to the individual and communities. In the United States, the majority of hungry people are the elderly, children, and the disabled which represent a bloc of people unable to provide for themselves with employment. The understanding that governmental systems and institutions responsible for food insecurity are failing, is becoming mainstream in the population, not the previous idea that agriculture does not produce enough food. How to provide physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to meet dietary needs and food preferences for healthy lives is a problem of political and economic exclusion, social injustice and discrimination (Cunningham 2017, Lecture 1). The right to food security should be an uncompromised right of humanity, no matter the cost to government or agriculture.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also helps subside some of the negative health effects caused by food insecurity for participants. Food insecurity during a woman’s pregnancy can increase the chances of birth defects and cause maternal depression (Gundersen et al., 2011). Children who live in a food insecure household can have anemia, low nutrient intake, greater cognitive and behavioral problems, higher levels of aggression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts. Adults with lower nutrient intake can experience physical and mental problems, such as depression and greater levels of stress. Food insecurity can also increase the chances of developing diabetes and becoming overweight. The elderly are more likely to be in poor health

The United States is experiencing social issues related to food insecurity and hunger. Current research states that older adults are especially vulnerable to food insecurity. In a study published in the Journal of Urban Health states, “Among the 14.6% of American households experiencing food insecurity, approximately 2 million are occupied by older adults” (Chung, Gallo, Giunta, Canavan, Parikh, & Fahs, 2011, p. 1). Since the year 2011 the Athens Community Council on Aging reports, “Almost 9 million older adults in the United States are at risk for hunger, and Georgia is 8th in state rankings for older adult risk of hunger” (2014, p. 1). Fortunately, in North America, hunger seldom reaches extreme levels of starvation. Researchers’ instead look at food insecurity as a way to monitor needs in our society (North, 2001).

Food insecurity is a broad topic which relates to a state in which an individual or individuals do not have reliable and safe access to foods in which are deemed healthy, accessible and reasonably priced. According to a study conducted by statistics Canada approximately four million individuals in Canada are considered food insecure. Literature has also suggested that food insecurity is a contributing factor to the rise of chronic diseases, example of these include diabetes, obesity and cancer. In addition, food insecurity has also been correlated with poor mental health outcomes such as anxiety issues, mood alterations, depressive episodes and impulsive behaviours. These mental health outcomes can be physiological and psychological

Food insecurity is connected with undesirable health consequences among American children. Food security is often linked to the incidences of the self-reported disease (Seligman, Laraia & Kushel, 2010). In the U.S., food diffidence is connected with diet-sensitive chronic diseases like hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes. The meaning of this is that 14% of households in the United States, 49 million people are at the risk of acquiring the above diseases since they are food insecure (Fram, Frongillo, Jones, Williams, Burke, DeLoach & Blake, 2011). In fact, food insecurity is linked to anemia and cardiovascular infections in adults and congenital disease in

Alarmingly, these rates have gone sky high. “In addition to the obvious general negative effects of hunger, food insecurity also paradoxically often leads to the associated health risks with obesity,” (Food Insecurity in Lake County, Indiana). Those serious health risks include heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Unfortunately, the families with these health concerns in the local area caused by food insecurity obviously cannot afford to get the proper healthcare or medication required with keeping the diseases from worsening over time. Moreover, this means that they will be suffering from lifelong chronic illnesses, not just obesity. What makes this an even more terrible of a situation is the fact that there have been no sign of any changes since the last time any of these sources were updated, which means that hundreds of thousands of families are still struggling to make ends meet; that statement is indeed