Posted on 06/12/2005 5:00:16 AM PDT by Libloather
More babies, young kids going hungry in US
Sat Jun 11, 11:00 PM ET
An American butcher. Increasing numbers of young American children are showing signs of serious malnourishment, fueled by a greater prevalence of hunger in the United States, while, paradoxically, two-thirds of the US population is either overweight or obese(AFP/File/Stan Honda)
BALTIMORE, United States (AFP) - Increasing numbers of young American children are showing signs of serious malnourishment, fueled by a greater prevalence of hunger in the United States, while, paradoxically, two-thirds of the US population is either overweight or obese.
In 2003, 11.2 percent of families in the United States experienced hunger, compared with 10.1 percent in 1999, according to most recent official figures, released on National Hunger Awareness Day held this year on Tuesday, June 7.
Some pediatricians worry that cuts in welfare aid proposed in President George W. Bush's 2006 budget will only exacerbate the situation. By contrast Bush plans to keep tax cuts for more affluent sectors of the population, they note.
In the working class port city of Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Maureen Black, a pediatrician, sees numbers of underweight babies in her clinic specialized in infant malnutrition located in one of the poorer areas.
"In the first year of life, children triple their birth weight," said Black, "and if children do not have enough to eat during those very early very times, you first see that their weight will falter and then their height will falter."
"If their height falters enough and they experience stunting under age two, they are then at risk for academic and behaviour problems" at school, said Black.
Dr. Deborah Frank, a professor of pediatrics at Boston University's School of Medicine, who also runs a specialised clinic for malnourished babies, has similar concerns.
"We are seeing more and more very young babies under a year of age which is a particular concern because they are most likely to die of under nutrition, and also their brains are growing very very rapidly," said Frank, in a telephone interview.
"A baby's brain increases 2.5 times in size in the first year of life," she says, adding that if the baby fails to get the nutritional building blocks he or she needs for the brain to develop, a child can have lifelong difficulties in behaviour and learning.
But infant-child protection centers do not exist in the United States, unlike it other countries, such as France, which makes children below the age of three or four years old somewhat invisible to authorities, laments Frank. "They don't come to my clinic until they are already quite underweight.
"Recently I have been alarmed because we are getting more children who are so ill that they go to hospital rather than they come to the clinic first" a situation which, in 20 years of practising medicine, Frank had seen reverse.
Some children in the United States occasionally look like the malnourished children we see in some parts of Africa, however, welfare programs targeting society's poorest ensures that problem is generally avoided, the pediatricians say.
Paradoxically, malnutrition is not always due to lack of food -- rather to the quality of the food being consumed.
"People often ask me how many children go to bed hungry. The answer is the parents work very hard so they don't go to bed feeling hungry. The parents try to fill the baby up with french fries and soda pop," said Frank.
In some areas, green vegetables and fruit are impossible to buy -- even in a can, because there may be no supermarket. Moreover, such items are costly.
"What happens in America is -- what seems bizarre -- that some of the recommendations that we give to families to prevent underweight of children are the same as we give to prevent overweight," said Black. "We recommend families not to give their children junk food."
In some families, eating junk food will mean one child is obese while the other is underweight, said Black. "The first will eat junk food and nothing else, the second will eat junk food and everything else."
More idiotic propaganda from our friends on the Left.
Er, excuse me. How many children have you breastfed that you are an expert?
I have exclusively breastfed -- no bottles or forumula or pacifiers EVER-- 6 children over 12 years. I was breastfeeding most of those 12 years. You have to have stamina, committment, love, determination, sacrifice, duty, patience, tolerance, and knowledge in order to sucessfully breastfed day and night (and I don't mean to breastfeed for 2 weeks and then go to formula). THAT requires much more than laziness.
How dare you call God's way lazy! It is lazy to allow your precious God-given milk to dry up and buy disgusting cow formula and put that into your baby. You hardly need to mix the gunk nowadays, it's all in a can. You just prop the baby up wit a bottle and you can continue to watch Jerry Springer. You can give the bottle to your mother and go out an party. THAT is laziness.
PLEASE.
On tv last night: poor families unable to get powdered milk...because farmers are getting such high prices for milk, they don't have any leftover to sell to the govt. to be turned into the powdered variety and given to poor families.
More idiotic propaganda from our friends on the Left.
****
I'll say. Unless you live on the moon, there are places to go to for food.
And by the way, my dinky town has markets and once a week, the farmers come to town to sell their wares. They accept the government ATM (food stamps) card too.
I agree ... it's a terrible example of 'investigative' journalism if that is what it's supposed to be. Perhaps the journalist might have spent a few weeks living with the 'hungry' families to observe how they spend their time and income and/or welfare checks and/or food stamps. The reporter might also have noted the age(s) of the parent(s), their marital status, number of children in the family unit, their ages, etc.
One can hardly blame Bush or Congress or anyone else if a child goes hungry because his/her unmarried 15 year old mother, who's got another child or two and is still dating and putting herself in a situation to produce more children, is not responsible enough to use her govt assistance to feed that child properly.
Love the 'red tofu' line ;)
Thanks for the information.
Actually 100 percent of families experienced hunger ... that's why they eat dinner.
Mon plaisir...oh no, not French ;-)
This is incorrect. The Access Card for food stamps cannot be used as cash. You simply use it like a credit card adn buy food. You balance is shown on the receipt.
You can, however, get cash assistance, which is on the same Access card. THAT you could ostensibly take out and use for anything, drugs, etc. But the food stamp portion is programmed only for food.
All I know is I saw this young woman (who I knew) put her AFDC card into an ATM machine and withdraw cash. It might've been the same card.
My apologies. I had no idea that what I wrote would offend you or anyone else.
All those things on your list apply to parenting, not just breastfeeding. Honestly, any committed parent is definitely not lazy whether their baby is fed by bottle or breast.
You hardly need to mix the gunk nowadays, it's all in a can. You just prop the baby up wit a bottle and you can continue to watch Jerry Springer. You can give the bottle to your mother and go out an party. THAT is laziness.
Breast feeding doesn't keep anyone from watching Jerry Springer and having your mother baby-sit doesn't necessarily make one lazy even if its to go to a party. Frankly, I found getting dressed up to go to a party while breastfeeding to be a real chore, but did it from time to time to please my husband.
Breast feeding doesn't even require refrigeration.
Well, now maybe we just have a problem of morons having children...
If canned food is all you have, you'll do just fine. And you know what, you'll live too!
You have got to me kidding me! I can see it now as reported by M$NBC:
"President Bush vows to close thousands of supermarkets in effort to destroy industry"
Agree 100%
If more "idiots"(many aren't young kids) would stop having babies, the problem would be solved.
Economist Walter Williams said as much.
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