Child hunger is on the rise in America. Poverty forces many families to skip meals or cut back on the quality and quantity of food, which over time can lead to malnutrition that negatively impacts learning, development, and health.

• According to the USDA, in 2006 12.6 million American children, 17.2% of the child population, lived in houses considered to be food insecure.


• Households with children experience food insecurity at almost double the rate for households without children.

Meanwhile processed foods with few nutrients and many empty calories are contributing to a national childhood obesity epidemic. Childhood obesity can lead to long-term medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, and asthma.

• The percentage of obese children in America has more than doubled since 1970.


• Although the epidemic has reached a plateau, today one third of U.S. kids remain either overweight, obese or morbidly obese.