Facts
Causes
Effects

Chronic Hunger Facts

• This year, 11 million children younger than 5 will die needlessly, more than one-half from hunger-related causes.^{Source 2}

• Few of these deaths are attributable to outright starvation, but rather to common illnesses such as diarrhea, acute respiratory illness, malaria and measles that move in on vulnerable children whose bodies have been weakened by hunger.^{Source 2}

• Most of the world’s hungry live in rural areas where food is actually produced.^{Source 6}

• Freedom from Hunger concentrates its services on the world’s poorest nations where, on average, 27% of children under 5 are moderately to severely underweight, 10% are severely underweight, 8% are moderately to severely wasted, or seriously below weight for one’s height, and an overwhelming 32% are moderately to severely stunted, or seriously below normal height for one’s age.^{Source 3}

• Hunger and poverty are highly interrelated. Food insecurity tends to be deepest in the lowest income groups.^{Source 6}
• In the developing world, more than 1.2 billion people currently live below the international poverty line, earning less than $1 per day.^{Source 4}

• Among this group of the poor, many have problems obtaining adequate, nutritious food for themselves and their families. As a result, 815 million people in the developing world are undernourished. They consume less than the minimum amount of calories essential for sound health and growth.^{Source 2}

• Undernourishment negatively affects people’s health, productivity, and overall well-being. A lack of food can stunt growth, slow thinking, sap energy, hinder fetal development and contribute to mental retardation.^{Source 2}

• The effort of constantly securing food consumes valuable time and energy of poor people, allowing less time for work and earning income.^{Source 2}

• Pregnant women, new mothers who breastfeed infants, and children are among the most at risk of undernourishment.^{Source 5}

Causes of Chronic Hunger

The causes of chronic hunger are complex and interrelated.  It is not just an issue of food being available. Chronic hunger is also related to access (ability to purchase food) and utilization of food (the body’s ability to absorb and process nutrients effectively).  It stems from economic, political, environmental and social issues.  Chronic hunger’s causes include the following: 

Causes Related to Availability

• Environmental Overload.  Unsustainable over-consumption by wealthy nations and rapid population growth in poor nations strain or destroy natural resources.  As a result, land and resources are no longer available or are unsuitable to grow food.   

• Rural to Urban Migration.  Massive rural to urban migration results in large numbers of the poor living in cities without access to land to grow food and without social networks to support them in times of need.  Moreover, those poor people who still live in rural areas may be left without sufficient manpower to grow crops.

• Armed Conflict.  War disrupts agricultural production and transportation of goods.  In addition, government spending often focuses on arms and politics during times of war rather than on social programs to feed and support those most affected and vulnerable.

• Distribution. While global food production has surpassed the world’s population growth rate, the abundance is not distributed evenly. Some low-income countries have difficulty producing enough food and lack the ability to import needed food.

Causes Related to Access

• Poverty.  When people are poor, they do not have the resources—whether land, tools or money—necessary to grow or buy food on a consistent basis.

• Discrimination.  People who suffer from racial, gender or ethnic discrimination often lack access to education, credit and employment—classic conditions for chronic hunger.

• Lack of Power.  People who lack power—such as children, women and the elderly—do not have the ability to protect their own interests, including accessing food.

Causes Related to Utilization

• Undernourishment and Disease.  When people, particularly children, are undernourished, their bodies cannot process food correctly.  Recurring illnesses and disease (malaria, parasitic infections and HIV/AIDS, for example) can also prevent adequate absorption and utilization of nutrients.
• Insufficient knowledge and incorrect practices.  Lack of knowledge and skills to appropriately prepare and balance food, as well as inadequate sanitation and safe water, leads to nutrient loss, food loss and limited consumption of nutritionally adequate diets. 
  

Effects of Chronic Hunger

Chronic hunger (food insecurity) is as devastating to families, communities and countries as is famine (acute food shortage crisis leading to the starvation of many people in a locality).  Chronic hunger claims by far more victims than famine each year. Moreover, chronic hunger is a persistent and insidious condition that can affect generations. Those living with chronic hunger face a host of problems that go beyond lack of food or money.  Effects of chronic hunger include the following:

• High Infant-Mortality Rates. Malnourished women are more likely to be sick, have smaller babies and die earlier, resulting in high levels of infant mortality in areas where chronic hunger is a problem. And where infant and child mortality is high, birth rates are also high, locking these communities in a vicious cycle of malnutrition and death.

• Vulnerability to Common Illnesses. More than 2 million children die every year from dehydration caused by diarrhea. A malnourished child often lacks the strength to survive a severe case of diarrhea.

• Increased Risk of Infection. A malnourished child has a weakened immune system, making the child more vulnerable to infection. Infections cause lack of appetite and further compromise the child's ability to fight off recurrent and lingering infections.

• Acute Vulnerability in Times of Disaster. A community’s poorest families are already living on the edge of survival. Unexpected shocks, such as crop failure, floods, epidemics, locusts or typhoons result in devastation and often sickness and death to the most vulnerable family members—children, women and the elderly.

• Impediments to Development. Chronic hunger and cycles of illness deprive children of essential proteins, micronutrients and fatty acids they need to grow adequately. Globally, it is estimated that nearly 226 million children are stunted. Stunted children score significantly lower on intelligence tests than do normal children.

• Impediments to Economic Growth. Many of the nearly 67 million children who weigh less than they should due to chronic hunger do not complete their schooling. Studies have shown that underweight children will probably spend fewer years in school, which, in turn, has a measurable impact on how much they earn in adulthood.

Learn about Freedom from Hunger’s response to chronic hunger.

Sources:

1. Bread for the World
2. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations
3. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
4. United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
5. World Health Organization (WHO)
6. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Economic Research Service