Malnourishment, It Exists
If you had one dollar in your pocket where would you go buy food? Many people would respond with a cheeseburger from the dollar menu at McDonalds, or a piece of candy at the closest convenient store. What can you buy that is HEALTHY to eat with one dollar? Most people would not be able to come up with an answer. Everyone knows that world hunger is a problem, but many people don’t know that malnourishment goes along with hunger and it is just as much a problem as hunger. Malnourishment is often overlooked, especially among the homeless. According to the Medical Dictionary malnutrition is defined as “the condition that develops when the body does not get the right amount of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients it needs to maintain healthy tissues and organ function” (Freedictionary). Malnourishment is a real and serious problem around America and the homeless people facing this problem need extreme help.
Malnourishment is often thought of to be people who are underweight, however it also affects overweight people as well. Most people do not know that there are a greater number of overweight homeless Americans then there are overweight non-homeless Americans (Koh, Hoy, O’Connell, Montgomery). The problem often comes from the un-nutritious foods served at homeless shelters or given out by various food pantries and the list could go on. According to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, the foods often served at soup kitchens or shelters are high in salts, sugars, and starches. While this food will satisfy the hunger part of the undernourished person’s stomach it will not provide for the nutrients such as vitamins and minerals their bodies are in desperate need of. Since most of these meals are the only ones that the homeless will receive they almost never are able to obtain Vitamin A, Vitamin B, iron, calcium, potassium, etcetera. There are various deficiencies that come from malnourishment such as Anemia, Atherosclerosis, Osteoporosis, rickets, and many more (Pizzorno). Many of these deficiencies can simply be solved by adding the needed foods into their diets. The National Health Care of the Homeless Council also provides information that shows twenty one percent of homeless people are suffering to food insufficiencies compared to the ten percent of non-homeless suffering from food insufficiencies. The majority of the food pantries are dependent on donations, and often times the foods donated are not the healthiest options. This is partly because of a shortage of money; if people want to donate a lot of food they are going to be on a budget. This budget causes them to not donate the healthiest of options, because healthier food tends to be the more expensive choice. Many people are unaware that malnutrition is a serious problem, and this campus could be a big part in changing it. A report was done by the National Alliance to End Homelessness in America that states, “On a single night in January 2014, 578,424 people were experiencing homelessness.” This is a large number of Americans compared to the United States population of 322,193,707 according to the United State’s census as of November 20, 2015. The point is that the problem cannot be solved overnight. Every solution must start small, and if we start with our campus of 32,000 plus staff getting involved we can make a great impact (Davis). The proposed solution that would be most effective is to team up with many homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and food pantries around the metro-Atlanta area to completely transform their menus, and eventually this would move across the nation. We can do this by getting Kennesaw’s students and faculty …show more content…
I challenge each of you to learn about the awful effects of the various diseases, and get involved. I challenge each and every one of you to help and reach out to these people in need. I challenge you to volunteer at homeless shelters. I challenge the campus to start up these solutions and begin the process of being the real change to end malnourishment. Everyone must remember that it will take the will power and dedication of each person. A problem this large cannot be fixed in a matter of weeks, months, or maybe even years. However, we must start somewhere, and the Kennesaw campus is capable of ending this
If you had one dollar in your pocket where would you go buy food? Many people would respond with a cheeseburger from the dollar menu at McDonalds, or a piece of candy at the closest convenient store. What can you buy that is HEALTHY to eat with one dollar? Most people would not be able to come up with an answer. Everyone knows that world hunger is a problem, but many people don’t know that malnourishment goes along with hunger and it is just as much a problem as hunger. Malnourishment is often overlooked, especially among the homeless. According to the Medical Dictionary malnutrition is defined as “the condition that develops when the body does not get the right amount of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients it needs to maintain healthy tissues and organ function” (Freedictionary). Malnourishment is a real and serious problem around America and the homeless people facing this problem need extreme help.
Malnourishment is often thought of to be people who are underweight, however it also affects overweight people as well. Most people do not know that there are a greater number of overweight homeless Americans then there are overweight non-homeless Americans (Koh, Hoy, O’Connell, Montgomery). The problem often comes from the un-nutritious foods served at homeless shelters or given out by various food pantries and the list could go on. According to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, the foods often served at soup kitchens or shelters are high in salts, sugars, and starches. While this food will satisfy the hunger part of the undernourished person’s stomach it will not provide for the nutrients such as vitamins and minerals their bodies are in desperate need of. Since most of these meals are the only ones that the homeless will receive they almost never are able to obtain Vitamin A, Vitamin B, iron, calcium, potassium, etcetera. There are various deficiencies that come from malnourishment such as Anemia, Atherosclerosis, Osteoporosis, rickets, and many more (Pizzorno). Many of these deficiencies can simply be solved by adding the needed foods into their diets. The National Health Care of the Homeless Council also provides information that shows twenty one percent of homeless people are suffering to food insufficiencies compared to the ten percent of non-homeless suffering from food insufficiencies. The majority of the food pantries are dependent on donations, and often times the foods donated are not the healthiest options. This is partly because of a shortage of money; if people want to donate a lot of food they are going to be on a budget. This budget causes them to not donate the healthiest of options, because healthier food tends to be the more expensive choice. Many people are unaware that malnutrition is a serious problem, and this campus could be a big part in changing it. A report was done by the National Alliance to End Homelessness in America that states, “On a single night in January 2014, 578,424 people were experiencing homelessness.” This is a large number of Americans compared to the United States population of 322,193,707 according to the United State’s census as of November 20, 2015. The point is that the problem cannot be solved overnight. Every solution must start small, and if we start with our campus of 32,000 plus staff getting involved we can make a great impact (Davis). The proposed solution that would be most effective is to team up with many homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and food pantries around the metro-Atlanta area to completely transform their menus, and eventually this would move across the nation. We can do this by getting Kennesaw’s students and faculty …show more content…
I challenge each of you to learn about the awful effects of the various diseases, and get involved. I challenge each and every one of you to help and reach out to these people in need. I challenge you to volunteer at homeless shelters. I challenge the campus to start up these solutions and begin the process of being the real change to end malnourishment. Everyone must remember that it will take the will power and dedication of each person. A problem this large cannot be fixed in a matter of weeks, months, or maybe even years. However, we must start somewhere, and the Kennesaw campus is capable of ending this