Dr. Mariana Chilton, Children’s HealthWatch Co-Principal Investigator, wrote a blog post on new USDA food insecurity data that was reposted by Moyers and Company.
Many Americans Still Struggling to Feed Their Families
The food insecurity numbers released by the USDA have not changed much since 2008. While the problem has not gotten substantially worse, it is also not getting any better. From our research with Children’s HealthWatch we know what helps to solve hunger – programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women Infants and Children (WIC). Young children whose families received SNAP, compared to those whose families were eligible but did not receive SNAP, were less likely to be in fair or poor health, under weight, at risk developmental delays, or to be hospitalized. In addition, children under the age of three who receive WIC are more likely to be in good health as compared to children not receiving WIC.
Despite the positive effect programs like WIC and SNAP have, benefits received by the families are often not enough to ensure they can be food secure. Families receiving SNAP are scheduled to lose some of these essential benefits as the benefit increase that was part of the 2009 stimulus is scheduled to expire on November 1. As more than 14 percent of households currently suffer from food insecurity, these cuts will only cause more chaos and suffering.
This post first appeared on the Drexel News Blog.
