Dear future President, 

Hi! My name is McCall Erickson and I am here to put a stop to child hunger around the globe. Child hunger should be stopped because it is dangerously affecting children’s health and it is heavily decreasing the number of children (people) on earth.

Child hunger should be stopped because it is dangerously affecting children’s health. Studies tell me that “on empty stomachs, kids don’t have the energy to focus, engage, learn and grow. Yet, this is the reality for 1 in 6 children in the U.S. who worry about when they’ll have their next meal.” The text goes on to say that “A food-insecure family of four is estimated to need the equivalent of nearly 100 additional meals a month because they lack enough money to buy food.” So yes, child hunger also has a lot to do with money. The text continues, reading that “84% of households with at least one child served by the Feeding America network report purchasing the cheapest food available, even if it wasn’t the healthiest option to provide enough food for the household.” That is really bad for a growing child’s health. The text also tells me that “20% of food-insecure children live in households that earn too much to qualify for most federal nutrition assistance.” These studies are really important because they explain to you how many kids don’t get nearly as much food as they should. It also tells that children who don’t get enough food have very unhealthy systems. I found some more terrifying facts that I wanted to share with you. Globally, 99 million under-five year olds were underweight in 2013, two thirds of which lived in Asia and about one third in Africa. The global trend in underweight prevalence continues to decrease; going from 25% to 15% between 1990 and 2013.. Africa has experienced the smallest relative decrease, with underweight prevalence of 17% in 2013 down from 23% in 1990, while in Asia for same period underweight was reduced from 32% to 18% and in Latin America and the Caribbean from 8% to 3%. Please take note of how seriously horrible these facts are.

Child hunger should be stopped because it is heavily decreasing the number of children (people) on earth. Did you know that 6.3 million children under age five died in 2013, nearly 17,000 every day? Yes 6.3 MILLION children. There are approximately 3.1 million children who die from hunger each year… and the number just keeps on going up. Worldhunger.org estimated that children who are poorly nourished suffer up to 160 days of illness each year. They also discovered that 66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone, which greatly impacts their ability to learn. Many, many children and people in general are losing their lives because of this dreadful cause. We have to make a stop to it so that this world can be happy and healthy, with lots of children. 

Lots of people around the globe believe that donating to fundraisers against children hunger is a waste of good money because the parents of the children should be getting the money to feed their children. People think that this matter is not nearly as serious as it really is. That is what makes them think that it is a total waste… but it’s not. Families who don’t buy food for their children are most usually families who are not fortunate and don’t have much money. I can see why these people think it’s a waste to donate, because the families are not earning money to put food on the table. Honestly, you never know what is happening in another person’s life so it is not good to come to conclusions. All in all, child hunger is a terrible cause that is affecting children’s health and decreasing the number of people on earth. I hope that you will take what I have said to you, future president, into your mind and your heart. Who knows, you could be the one to save a child or multiple children’s lives. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely, McCall Erickson

Citations:

--Feeding America. FeedingAmerica.org. 2016.

--Markkula Center. World Hunger: A Moral Response. Scu.edu. November 13, 2015.

--World Child Hunger Facts. Worldhunger.org. July 2015.