Effects And Contributing Factors Of World Hunger
Over the years, humanity has been facing a number of issues that needs to be recognized as a serious problem and a major priority. Society has been struck with a plague that has claimed the lives of thousands of people worldwide and of all age groups. World hunger is the biggest concern humanity is facing due to the lives that were lost from starvation due to poverty and warring nations seen in less developed countries. The lack of food these people are receiving in these countries can cause a great deal of health problems including malnutrition, deficiencies, and disorders that can eventually lead to death. At the same time, many people are going hungry because of the excess amount of problems poverty is causing for them. In addition, most people who live in warring nations are being cut off from the supply of food coming into their areas as a tactic of warfare.
Hunger has a number of contributing factors but a shortage of food is not one of them, since there is more than enough being produced worldwide. Living in a world that is capable of alleviating this problem, there are millions of people that suffer and struggle to feed their families on a day to day basis. “The food crises often occur in the poorest countries and communities of the world that have to deal with health problems related to the lack of food, like malnutrition”. Hunger is widespread in these developing nations and can cause anyone to suffer from malnourishment, but is predominantly seen in children. According to the World Food Programme, malnutrition is defined as, “a state in which the physical function of an individual is impaired to the point where he or she can no longer maintain natural bodily capacities. ” Malnourishment is a serious condition that if were to worsen can cause weight loss, bradycardia, hypotension and eventually cause the heart to atrophy and die. Their are valuable lives being lost more and more because they are not receiving the proper amount of nutrients from food necessary to carry out their bodily functions. There is no reason for people to be affected by malnutrition when we now have the resources to help these people who are forced to live the rest of their lives this way. The lack of food is the leading cause of malnutrition in these lesser developed countries which is unacceptable. So not only do the people in these situations starve, but they also suffer from a ton of different health related problems. To make matters worse, these groups of people that are in these situations are also struck with poverty.
Poverty can not only cause hunger, but can be a result of hunger as well, that jeopardizes the lives of many. It is known that, “Wherever poverty is, it leads to ill health and ill health maintains poverty”. There are thousands that go unfed on a regular basis because they do not have the sufficient funds to afford food to eat. There are vast amounts of people that starve due to the prices of food being too expensive for the average poor person. Most of them only have less than two dollars to live off of, which is not even enough for bread. For some that think these poverty-stricken individuals should try harder to improve their lives instead of relying on others for relief, the fact of the matter is that when you’re already poor you cannot afford the proper food to take care of your families which makes them weak and unable to work. Once you enter the stages of starvation, your body tries to survive off of the remaining fat and muscles until your body is too weak to function.
Overall, hunger and starvation can be caused by poverty and also make it worse. Nations in Africa and the Middle East have also suffered more due to food wars that limit the amount of food that is being distributed, contributing to hunger. Warring nations intentionally use, “Food as a weapon and starve opponents into submission by seizing and cutting off sources of food or livelihood”. The severance of food has made refugees move away from these areas in desperate search of food and resources. Some government forces starve these communities of people so it would allow them to stay in control of certain territories. With these food wars, people are losing access to necessary resources that would allow them to grow their own food or have access to in their area. As many of the foods cannot be attained, people have less and less to eat which causes people to starve and become malnourished. World Hunger is a serious problem facing more than half of the world, in which groups of people end up losing their lives because of starvation. Hunger has remained a serious issue in these developing countries that have to struggle to find where their next meal is coming from. People go hungry not because there is not enough to go around, but because of causes like poverty and human conflict. Ending hunger is possible if warring nations will invest in their own society and alleviate some of that hunger. Globally, we need to come together to stop world hunger because it is possible.
