Hunger: Stress on Childhood Development

As a teacher in an elementary setting, I have come into contact with many families that are dealing with hunger issues.  I had a student at one time that had been found eating from a dumpster.  I could not imagine what his life must have been like.  You don't think about stuff like this right here in your own community.  It was not long before this child was taken into custody and became a foster child.  That was when he came into my life.  This young boy of 6 years old had several problems.  He was developmentally delayed and was a sickly child.  He had a hard time relating to the other children and often played alone during recess.  He did not communicate well with others.  It hurts me to think that any child would have to go to a dumpster in search of food.  Families fall on hard times all the time, but there are so many resources out there that we need to make sure families like this know about.  I would love to be able to see this child today and see how he is doing and what strides he has made in his life.  I wondered if he was able to go back to his father or if he was adopted by a new family.  I feel that once he left that lifestyle that he would progress in some way, but have always wondered to what degree.  I do feel that hunger played a major role in his biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial development.  Through his lack of necessary nutrients, he struggled to fight of illnesses, performed poorly academically, and lacked the social skills when it came to interacting with his peers.

Hunger is also a problem in other countries as well.  Just like right here at home, there are children out there seraching for food in the worst of places.  I visited some sites that shared hunger issues as seen in Somalia.  It was shocking to see what was happening in this area.  So many children are dying due to lack of proper nutrition.  Hunger has displaced people, murdered thousands and has put half the population of Somalia in starvation. In fact, charitywatch.org states, “More than 12 million people are affected, with the malnutrition-related death toll in Somalia already in the tens of thousands before famine was declared" (Komukyeya, 2012).  So what is being done to help?  There are many organizations that are working to help Somalia in their fight for food.  Some of the ones mentioned are: The World Food Programme, Action against Hunger, Unicef, Save the Children and others, but still they are fighting to live due to lack of food.  Stomping out hunger is not something that we can change overnight, but over time, is something that we can strive to minimize through the help of organizations. 

Komukyeya, R. (Producer). (2012). Hunger in somalia. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://prezi.com

Child Development and Public Health

Hunger and Malnutrition

I have always had a heart for children and families that are affected by hunger and malnutrition.  This is not a health topic that is a problem only in certain areas.  Granted, it is worse in some areas than in others.  I come into contact with children each and every day that are affected by hunger.  I have had children share with me that they did not get to eat over the weekend or last evening.  I am very passionate about this topic and will do whatever I can to help with this situation.  No child should have to go to bed without something to eat. 

 When I went to Guatemala, I had the opportunity to be a part of creating a feeding center in one of the villages.  Children ages 2 to 12 would come from all around the village and wait for several hours for the food to be prepared and served.  These children all received a bowl of some sort of chicken either with spaghetti or just in a soup, a tortilla, and a cup of powdered milk.  If they had anything left in their bowls, they would pour it in a type of plastic grocery bag and they would save it for later that evening.  This absolutely melted my heart.  Hunger and malnutrition is very evident in Guatemala.  In Guatemala, the face of poverty and hunger is young, indigenous and rural. Guatemala, with the fourth highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world and the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean, faces a serious challenge to reduce chronic undernutrition, currently at 49.8% among children under 5.

In the county where I teach, and through a partnership with Second Harvest food bank, we provide our students in need with a backpack of food.  Each Friday, we send home a backpack that contains enough food to get them through the weekend.  We also provide our students with free and reduced breakfast and lunch as well as share what resources we have regarding food pantries in the area with our families so that they can go and get things that they might need.  I know that we cannot completely eradicate hunger and malnutrition, but with the right people and resources, we can make a difference.

Childbirth in my Life and in Haiti

When I had my oldest son, Stephen, I was 24 years old.  I started out with extreme morning sickness.  The doctor tried everything to try and stop the morning sickness, but this continued throughout my entire pregnancy (can’t believe I had two more children after this).  I remember going to the doctor the day after Labor Day for a visit and my blood pressure was elevated.  The doctor decided to put me on bed rest and bring me in two days later and induce me.  So, I arrived at the hospital at 6:00 on Thursday, September 7^th.  The nurses quickly put me in a room where I changed into a gown.  It wasn’t too long after that the doctor came in and broke my water.  (This was not a pleasant experience at all.)  He then started me on a drug called Pitocin to encourage my labor process.  It was about 12:30 when the contractions got to be so uncomfortable that I called for an epidural.  About 1:00 the anesthesiologist came into the room and proceeded to give me my epidural.  What a relief that was!  I continued to progress and the nurses came by and checked on me periodically.  At about 6:45 the doctor came back by and said that I was seven centimeters dilated, so, he decided to turn up the Pitocin to help speed up the process even more.  My body did not like that at all and that is when things started going haywire!  My contractions started coming so quickly that the baby was showing signs of distress.  The doctor came running back in the room and along with him several nurses.  My husband said he has no idea how he got from standing right beside me to the other side of the room.  They started giving me shots in my legs to try and stop the contractions and even put the head of my bed down where they could get the pressure off of my cervix.  That is when they decided to head for a C-section.  The baby’s heart rate would not come up and there was no other choice.  They rushed me into the operating room where they put me to sleep and took the baby.  When they delivered him at 7:05 p.m., he weighed seven pounds two and a half ounces and he scored a zero and a one on his Apgar test.  He remained in the hospital for 8 days after which we were able to take him home.  He is a very healthy young man today and will be graduating this May from high school.

This experience was one I will never forget.  I chose this example because I was told that my son might possibly have developmental problems due to the lack of oxygen.  He is completely healthy and will graduate this May, ranked 20^th in his class with a 3.919 GPA.  I have come to realize that babies are a lot more resilient than you might think.  But, if it had been for the state of the art doctors, nurses and facilities, my son and I may neither one be here today.

In reading about birthing in Haiti, I am amazed at the high number of babies and mothers that die during childbirth.  Depending on where you are in Haiti, determines the conditions in which you will give birth.  Most babies are delivered in areas that are unclean and a lot of times at home with a midwife, who a lot of times are not necessarily medically trained.  Women are not given any drugs to help them with their pain and the fathers are not a part of this process.  Thus, the women are left to do this on their own for the most part.  Conditions are unsanitary as there is usually not a lot of water so you are left to use some sort of hand sanitizer.  Births in Haiti verse United States is very different.  The mortality rate is much higher in Haiti due to lack of prenatal care and poor facility conditions.