Rotary First Harvest : Hunger In Washington


	Hunger in Washington Children make up almost half of the nearly 1.1 million Washington residents relying on their local food bank or emergency meal program. Children and seniors also make up 58% of the Puget Sound residents relying on food banks and emergency meal programs served by Food Lifeline, Northwest Harvest, and the Emergency Food Network. Children who are hungry suffer through repeated colds, headaches, stomachaches and other illnesses, have little energy for football, hoops or hopscotch, and face a lifetime of harm from stunted physical growth, cognitive delays, and other challenges. National studies reported in Pediatrics and the American Journal of Public Health show that children who are hungry or "food insecure" (not having enough to eat on a regular basis) are more likely than their well-fed peers to repeat a grade or be suspended, have lower math scores, or have difficulty "getting along" with other students. Here in Washington, the Children's Alliance has identified another alarming trend: an increase in type 2 diabetes due to a lack of nutritious foods in children's diets. Childhood malnutrition has a simple, sure remedy: eating anti-oxidant, vitamin- and mineral-rich fruits and vegetables. All too often, our state's food banks lack the staff or funds to acquire the perishable, nutritious and often expensive fruits and vegetables low-income children need to grow up healthy.