Helping People with Food

The Facts about poverty and hunger in America Even in the world’s greatest food-producing nation, children and adults face poverty and hunger in every county across America. More than 38 million people are living in poverty in America. In 2019, most families living in poverty earn less than $25,750 per year. More than 37 million people struggle with hunger in the United States, including more than 11 million children. A household that is food insecure has limited or uncertain access to enough food to support a healthy life. Children are more likely to face food insecurity than any other group in the United States. More than half (56%) of food-insecure households participated in at least one of the major federal food assistance program — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps); the National School Lunch Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (often called WIC) We do our best to meet needs both physical and spiritual, as well as at the individual, family and community level.

PROBLEMS WE SOLVE 
malnourished child We provide food, housing, emergency relief and much more to those in desperate need. WHERE WE SERVE underdeveloped countries we serve We feel a special calling and are uniquely equipped to serve the poorest of the poor in the Caribbean and Latin America.

The experience of severe food insecurity

In addition to the traditional hunger indicator reported by the SOFI (undernourishment), this year, for the second time, the report presents an indicator of severe food insecurity, based on household surveys.

According to this measurement, severe food insecurity in 2017 is higher than in 2014 in all regions, except North America and Europe, with notable increases in Africa and Latin America.

In Latin America, severe food insecurity jumped from 7,6 % in 2016 to 9,8 % in 2017.

Acute and chronic malnutrition in children

Good news for the region is that it has a very low rate of acute malnutrition in children (1,3 %), equivalent to 700 000 children under the age of five, well below the global average of 7,5 %. Only one in every 100 children under 5 years of age in Latin America and the Caribbean suffers from this condition.

The chronic malnutrition of girls and boys has also fallen, from 11,4 % in 2012 to 9,6 % in 2017: today it affects 5.1 million children under five years of age in the region.

Obesity affects almost one in four inhabitants

The news is much less encouraging on the issue of obesity. According to the SOFI, practically one out of every four inhabitants of the region lives with obesity: in 2016, obesity affected 24,1 % of the population, an increase of 2,4 % since 2012.

“In 2016 there were 104,7 million adults with obesity in our region. But there was a gigantic increase - of more than 16 million- in just four years. It is an epidemic that, despite repeated warnings from FAO and PAHO/WHO, continues to be out of control, with enormous effects on the health of people and the economy of the countries,” Berdegué warned.

Latin America and the Caribbean has the second highest percentage of overweight children in the world (7,3 %), which is equivalent to 3.9 million girls and boys.

Obesity in adults is also worsening globally: 672 million people are obese, more than one in eight adults.

Climate impacts food security

In addition to conflicts, variability and extreme weather conditions are among the key factors in the recent increase in world hunger.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, this was clearly seen in the Dry Corridor of Central America, particularly in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, one of the regions most affected by the drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon in 2015-16.