Hunger is not only the problem of Africa, but also the problem of a child from our neighbourhood, contemporary of son or daughter… The problem of hunger does not only concern children from other continents, but so often it touches children who live next door to us…
According to the report from a research considering malnutrition in Poland conducted by international MillwardBrown company, 120 000 Polish children go to school hungry and for more than 70 000 the only meal during the day is a founded dinner in the school canteen. Estimates of Polish Humanitarian Action are even more shattering. According to data nearly 160 000 Polish children do not get any help and suffer from malnutrition. According to a research carried by SMG KRC nearly every third child at the age of 7-15 needs help considering lack of sufficient nourishment. Only in Warsaw over 23 000 children suffer from starvation.
According to GUS report the number of people living on the border of minimum of existence is growing. In 2009 year 2,2 million people lived in conditions of extreme poverty.
About many hungry children nobody even knows. Therefore, they are not given any assistance from the government or charity organization.
Statistics:
- Nearly 120 000 children come to school hungry – not having enough energy to function properly.
- More than 170 000 children suffer from malnutrition, which consequences in improper growth and development
- More than 260 000 children start a day without breakfast, so they lack the most important meal of a day.
- Every fifth child is nourished improperly, which means they do not receive essential nutritious components.
- More than 70 000 children eat only what they get at school, which means that their home does not supply them with basic food. Programs of delivering meals to schools are their only chance for a proper meal. For many Polish children dinner at school is their only meal. Some of the children have the meals founded by social assistance. But not all hungry children can get such help. To obtain such assistance from the country they have to meet specific criteria, which are sometimes so rigidly established that many children are left hungry…
More than 10% of Polish pupils are above social or other institution help. More than a half of all schools declare that they have more than 20 such children (there are approximately 26 kids waiting for a meal in every school).
This problem is especially serious in poor villages, where the unemployment ratio and the degree of social helplessness are very high. Children under 15 year-old are especially exposed to poverty. They do not have the choice considering the family they grow up in. Most of them live in families which are at the edge of poverty, unemployed, single-parent or in families with pathological problems.
The main symptoms of malnutrition among children are disturbances of development of central nervous system, social and emotional disturbances, decrease of body mass and drop of physical fitness.
Malnutrition among children negatively affects their psychophysical growth and leads to drop of immunity, which increases the risk of many diseases
Malnutrition negatively affects the ability of learning by children, which limits their chances for future.
Hungry and neglected children are rejected by other kids at school, which causes educational and psychical problems among discriminated children.
Sense of hunger is strictly connected with low sense of personal dignity, so that those children feel they are worse than others…
Therefore, it is so important to get to those children who are not provided with any assistance and to give them conditions for proper development…
Sources: GUS, PCK, PKPS, PAH, FPDS, http://dusza-dziecka.blog.pl