Study Shows Ohio Kids Worry About Meals

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Children should be worried about things like recess, their favorite toy and the next adventure with their family, but too many are worried about where their next meal will come from.

According to Feeding America, a non-profit network of food banks, one in six children live on the brink of hunger.

A new study on childhood food insecurity found 3.5 million children under the age of five are insecure about their next meal.

Ohio is ranked third with 23 percent of children under the age of five who worry day-to-day about when and if they will get something to eat.

At the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, workers see it: kids are going hungry.

“Thirty-six percent of folks we help on a day-to-day basis are kids. We see the numbers and know that demand is up 20 percent,“ said Matt Habash, Mid-Ohio Foodbank president and CEO.

As summer approaches food bank workers know Ohio’s most vulnerable residents face the hardest part of the year. When kids are out of school, some go without breakfast and lunch they get during the school year.

“One of the challenges we see are kids at soup kitchens,“ Habash said.

In a tough economy, the latest news doesn’t surprise those who are on the front lines of hunger.

“I’ve always said the best social service is to get people back to work. Right now, we are supplement to a lot of folks,“ Habash.

When it comes to helping, Mid-Ohio Foodbank takes food all year round.

May 9 is the letter carrier food drive, where residents can leave non-perishable food items next to their mailbox. Letter carriers will pick up the food and deliver it to local food banks.

For more information on the Feeding America study, visit http://feedingamerica.org/newsroom/press-release-archive/child-food-insecurity.aspx.

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