Hunger As a World Issue
Kevin Qian, Daniel McNabb
The Scale of Hunger As a World Problem
Hunger afflicts 805 million people-about 1 in 9. Most of them are located in developing countries, where 13.5% of the population is malnourished; in Sub-Saharan Africa, nearly one in four do not have enough to eat.
Despite the large number of malnourished people, the world produces enough food to feed everyone. The Earth's food production is enough to provide everyone av average of 2790 kcal, but much of this goes to waste.
Deaths From Inadequate Nutrition
With a death toll of about 7.7 million per year, a lack of food causes more deaths than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. 45% of the deaths of children under five (3.1 million) can be attributed to starvation.
Stunting
Stunted children receive less food than required to maintain health over a long period of time, and thus look unusually small for their age. Both of the children shown are of similar age, but the one on the right is stunted.
Wasting
Wasting usually occurs when there is a severe shortage of nutrition over a shorter period of time. The body's fats and muscles rapidly wither away. Children who display such symptoms are often of normal height for their age, but their weight is well below what would be expected.
Underweight
Underweight is simply a term used to describe someone who weighs less than they should for their age. Wasting and stunted children usually fit into this term.
Additional Problems
Starvation causes additional problems in society: Revolts due to low food supplies can spawn violence, while undernourished workers are unlikely to be productive, which in turn leads to a poor economy and nation development.
This picture shows just some of the deaths that have occured around the world due to starvation, It's estimated about 21,000 people die every day from hunger.