Nutrition and malnutrition

     Nutrition and Malnutrition is a very important issue to me because there are so many children in the world who are hungry. Not getting enough to eat affects many children in developing countries, and surprisingly here in the United States also. It is said that over 1 billion people including children in the world do not have enough to eat and that every 6 seconds a child dies from related malnutrition causes. (Kids health, n.d.) India has one of the highest percentages of children that are not getting enough to eat and many are dying of malnutrition. It is recorded that 38.4% of children under age three are has stunted growth and 46%  of the children are underweight, the cause is from poor nutrition. (Mother and Child Nutrition, 2009)

     In the United States in 2010 over 17.2 million households did not have enough food to eat. (World Hunger Education Service, 2011) At my family owned child care center, which is located in the center of the city, there are many families in need. About 90% of the families we serve are below poverty level. Many of the children at the center may only have their meals at the center. Our center participates in the Child &Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) food program, this program allows us to provide our children with healthy well balanced meals.

References

KidsHealth. (n.d.)Hunger and Malnutrition. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/feeding/hunger.html

Mother and Child Nutrition. (2009)  India. Retrieved from. http://motherchildnutrition.org/india/overview-india.html

World Hunger Education Service. (2011)Hunger in America: 2011 United States Hunger and Poverty Facts. Retrieved from http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/us_hunger_facts.htm