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What goes through your mind when you read those 2 words above? Do you think of dirt? Do you think of little African children with bloated bellies and dirty faces?
Sure, you are right in a way, but poverty & hunger is so much more than this. Explore this blog to find out the facts.
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Thursday, November 17, 2011, 4:10 AM
Poverty & Hunger
There is much more to poverty and hunger than meets the eye. From time to time, we are exposed to advertisements on TV showing little kids in shabby and dirty environments. However, most of the time the real issues of poverty and hunger aren't highlighted or explained. This blog aims to broaden your awareness about this ethical issue in the world today.
3:56 AM
What is Poverty:
Poverty is defined as "The state of being extremely poor." When someone is living in poverty, it is usually the case that they lack possessions, money, and basic human needs. Just like hunger, there are also different types of poverty. The first type of poverty, that seems to be the most serious, is destitution. Destitution means one has limited or no access to clean fresh water, good nutrition, health care, education, clothing or shelter & sanitation. The other type of poverty is relative poverty, when one earns low income or is not able to earn an income. Also, when a person lives on $2 a day or less, the world bank defines this as living in extreme poverty. Currently, there are more than 1 billion people worldwide affected by some sort of poverty.
3:02 AM
What is Hunger:
Hunger is defined as "A feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat."
But really, defined or not defined, we all know what it feels like to be hungry. In most cases, most of us are easily able to satisfy our hunger, however for a billion people all over the world, it may not be that simple.
Hunger is the World's no. 1 health risk, which is quite alarming seeing as it means a billion people are at potential of having their health at risk.
When one is hungry, their body doesn't get enough food, meaning they have no energy to work, play, go to school, farm for food or lead active lives.
Apart from the initial hunger that starts out in our bellies, there are also other types of hunger. One example of this is called "Hidden Hunger", which is when someone eats the same food everyday meaning they then lack in vitamins and vital minerals.
Another type/form of hunger is undernourishment which leads to food security issues.
However, the most serious case of hunger is starvation, the leading factor of famine. Famine is when there is a widespread scarcity of food typically affecting a whole country or area.
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Causes of Poverty and Hunger:
Hunger is caused by poverty, and poverty is somewhat caused by hunger. Both of these are caused by inter related reasons.
The causes of poverty consist of a lack of resources, unequal income distribution, conflict & as mentioned before, hunger.
In both cases, inadequate education and empployment opportunities also play a major role as a cause.
Poverty causes poor health, which creates a chain reaction of low energy level which leads to hunger, which then goes on to increase poverty and it reduces people's ability to work and learn.
Amongst these causes, Political issues, Natural Disasters, Economic Issues (such as inflation and food price increases) can also be added to the list of causes.
Nowadays, with the growing population, this is also another primary cause of poverty. Over-population, in both developed and underdeveloped countries means more people are exhausting the already lacking availability of resources.
As for hunger, another cause is land scarcity and unequal distribution. There is more than enough food in the world to feed everyone, but it all comes down to how it is distributed and grown. If there is no land to grow food on for consumption, or resources aren't distributed evenly, then there is no wonder why so much of the world's population is hungry.
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Who is Affected:
Poverty & Hunger affects many people worldwide.
Most of those affected are children and people who live in third world countries and rural areas.
Some statistics state that more than 1 billion people are affected by poverty and hunger, 2/3 of those people being situated in Asia and the Pacific.
More shockingly, 9 million die every year from hunger, meaning 25000 die every day, and one death every 3 and a half seconds.
By the time you have finished reading this sentence, people around the world have died.
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How does it affect people:
Poverty and hunger affects people in many ways.
There are obvious food shortages, financial instabilities and insecurity of different types.
The most alarming affect on people is of course health wise. People may become sick or contract diseases, or even suffer from malnutrition.
In the worst case scenario, death may be the result of these issues.
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