What is hunger?
According to the World Food Programme, hunger is defined as a short-term physical discomfort as a result of chronic food shortage, or in severe cases, a life-threatening lack of food, and it can be manifested in three different ways: undernourishment, malnutrition and wasting. Undernourishment occurs when people don’t take enough calories to meet the minimum psychological needs. Malnutrition refers to deficiencies or excesses in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients or impaired nutrient utilization. And wasting it is when people don’t have the adequate quality and quantity of food, resulting in weight loss.
According to the World Food Programme, hunger is defined as a short-term physical discomfort as a result of chronic food shortage, or in severe cases, a life-threatening lack of food, and it can be manifested in three different ways: undernourishment, malnutrition and wasting. Undernourishment occurs when people don’t take enough calories to meet the minimum psychological needs. Malnutrition refers to deficiencies or excesses in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients or impaired nutrient utilization. And wasting it is when people don’t have the adequate quality and quantity of food, resulting in weight loss.
But what happens when people are still eating, but the only food available is not high in nutrients or vitamins? Hidden hunger happens. It affects about 30 percent of the world’s population — over 2 billion people. Its signs only appear later, but they can be fatal.
But what happens when people are still eating, but the only food available is not high in nutrients or vitamins? Hidden hunger happens. It affects about 30 percent of the world’s population — over 2 billion people. Its signs only appear later, but they can be fatal.
Some causes of world hunger:
Some causes of world hunger:
- Poverty: Some families don’t have enough money to afford nutritious food. In countries like Democratic Republic of Congo, people live on less than $2 per day.
- Food shortages: In some countries in Africa, there are periods that are known as “hungry seasons”, because families have to skip some meals each day, cause the food supplies from the harvest are gone.
- Climate change: In some countries, like Zambia, the climate change has been affecting the harvests, because too much or too little rainfall can destroy the entire plantation.
- Poor public policy: There are a lot of problems in our system, like the low investment in education, infrastructure and sanitation, and all of this affects the establishment of a society with no hunger.
- Gender inequality: a study from the United Nations had said:“If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million.” This happens because women are responsible for the production of the majority of food in poor countries, but they are frequently out of the important discussions about the topic.