Kids Can Make A Difference

U.N. studies show that the world already produces more than enough food to feed everyone on the planet and has the capacity to produce even more, and yet...

World hunger organizations estimate that nearly 1 BILLION people around the world are chronically hungry.

☼30,000 children die every day of hunger or diseases resulting from hunger.*

Nearly 200 million children in the world are malnourished according to the United Nations.

The number of people who die from hunger every 3 ½ days is the same number of people who died from the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.

The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world’s hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world.

☼36.3 million American people live in households that experience hunger. This means that one in ten households in the United States is hungry. (USDA, Economic Research Service, 2003)

☼13 million children in the U.S. go to bed hungry. (Bread for the World, 2004)

In the U.S. hunger and race are related. 41.9% of African-American children and 40% of Latino children are chronically hungry compared to 16.2% of white children. (Bread for the World, 1995 statistics.)

The U.S. Administration on Aging estimates that 1 out of 4 seniors in the U.S. has an inadequate diet.

Around the world the most vulnerable to hunger are: children, pregnant and nursing women, single mothers, the elderly, the homeless, the unemployed, ethnic and racial minorities, and the working poor.

Some little reported facts about hunger in the United States that might surprise you:

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate rose again in 2004 with 1.1 million more Americans living in poverty than the previous year. After declining sharply under Mr Clinton, the number of poor people has risen 17% under Mr. Bush.

The infant mortality rate (IMR) in America's capital is twice as high as in China's capital. The number of babies who died before their first birthdays amounted to 11.5 per thousand live births in 2002 in Washington D.C. compared with 4.6 in Beijing.

According to the United Nations Development program, an African-American baby in Washington has less chance of surviving its first year than a baby born in urban parts of the state of Kerala in India.

Under Mr. Bush the IMR has risen for the first time since 1958. The U.S. ranks 43rd in the world in infant mortality, according to the CIA's Factbook. If we could reach the level of Singapore ranked #1, we would save 18'900 children's lives each year.

Nationally 29 percent of U.S. children had no health insurance at some point in the last 12 months and many others get neither checkups or vaccinations. The U.S. ranks 84th in the world for measles immunizations and 89th for polio.

* This number varies depending on major events that affect people’s access to food such as natural disasters, war, forced migration, environmental degradation, etc. as well as successful hunger-relief programs.

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For further information on the program and how you can become involved, contact: kids@kidscanmakeadifference.org.

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