Hunger is a Worldwide Problem for Children

More than 18 million people in West Africa suffer from hunger.  Crop shortages, rising food costs and     
                                          insecurity have left more than 1 million children starving. 


       The Sahel is an arid, impoverished region on the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert. And it is in the Sahel where one million children live on the fringe of survival due to a food shortage that threatens many with severe acute malnutrition.  Water shortages are adding to the misery for children and families in northern Mali.
         Children are always the most vulnerable in any emergency. The hunger crisis in countries that comprise the Sahel - Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Chad - are no exception. Vast numbers of families already are unable to provide their children with enough food because of extreme poverty, skyrocketing food prices, violence and droughts. The sustained nature of these problems has made it all the harder for families to bounce back when a crisis is over. 
         Even absent the current crisis, children in the Sahel already face some of the world’s worst under-5 mortality rates.In Niger, where more than half of children do not attend school at all, there are reports that children are leaving classrooms to help their families earn incomes, which may expose them to exploitation. And, as children eat less, and eat less nutritious foods, they can become malnourished and at risk of debilitating diseases that can quickly kill if not treated. 

        We live in a world where we know how to prevent extreme hunger, yet people still die from a lack of food. 2011 saw the worst hunger crisis this century in the Horn of Africa. More than 13 million people, most of them women and children, have been affected. Lives and livelihoods have been devastated, pushing people into poverty that could cause them suffering for years to come.  This certainly has lasting effects on children as well as their physical and cognitive development.

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/

The Effects of Poverty

As a child I grew up in a family with 6 children and 2 parents.  We lived on 5 acres along with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousin.  Each family had their own home but we spent a lot of time together.  Over the years there were periods of time that my family did not have the necessary resources to provide for the 6 children that they had.  At times food was an issue and I can remember as a child what it is like to be hungry.  I depended on the food that I received from school for my primary source of food.  Sometimes, if we did not have food for dinner we would walk over to my grandparents house and they would feed us.  This was something that as a child I did not want other people to know.  I felt that it was my family's business and not my place to share this with others.  As I grew older I began spending time at friends houses and eating their food.  I never shared with others that food at my house was scarce, but I'm sure that the adults around me had figured this out.

Once I became a parent it was not even an option for my children to ever do without food.  I made sure that I always fed my children nutritious meals and that they would never know what it is like to be a child and be hungry.  This was something that was very important to me and I felt was always priority.  

As a teacher I watch for students that seem to be hungry.  I always have food in my classroom.  I let students that come from family's who are struggling know that all they have to do is let me know that they are hungry and that I will always give them food.  I have had students that usually never get into trouble, steal food from others.  I have found that these students also do not want others to know that they are hungry and that their parents are not providing food for them.  Once they become comfortable with the fact that I know they happily take food from me and begin to ask for food when they are hungry.

At my school where I teach we also have partnered with a church to provide backpack sack foods.  This program sends foods home with students every weekend so that they will be able to eat while they are not in school.  This is something that I am very active in and if I have noticed the signs of a hungry child I always make sure that they are referred to the program.  I had one student that ran up to me this year and said thank you Mrs. Holmberg for getting me in the backpack sack program.  This was heartwarming to see the excitement and gratitude from this student over simply having food.  This is something that all educators need to be aware of as well as be willing to take the necessary steps to ensure that our students are not hungry.

The decreasing trends in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

                                                   Reducing the Risk

A lack of answers is part of what makes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) so frightening. SIDS is the leading cause of death among infants 1 month to 1 year old, and claims the lives of about 2,500 each year in the United States. It remains unpredictable despite years of research.

Most deaths due to SIDS occur between 2 and 4 months of age, and incidence increases during cold weather. African-American infants are twice as likely and Native American infants are about three times more likely to die of SIDS than caucasian infants. More boys than girls fall victim to SIDS.
Other potential risk factors include:

• smoking, drinking, or drug use during pregnancy
• poor prenatal care
• prematurity or low birth weight
• mothers younger than 20
• tobacco smoke exposure following birth
• overheating from excessive sleepwear and bedding
• stomach sleeping

In 2000, on the basis of new epidemiologic evidence, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended back sleeping as the preferred position. In the United States, prone-sleeping rates have declined 81%, from 70% in 1992 to 13% in 2005, and supine-sleeping rates have increased from 13% to 72% over that period. The US rate of SIDS has declined 55% (from 1.20 in 1000 live births in 1992 to 0.54 in 1000 live births in 2005)

SIDS data were obtained for 13 of 17 countries queried. For most of these countries, there has been a striking decrease in the SIDS rate from 1990 to the most recent year available (2005 for all but Canada, for which 2004 data are the most recent). These decreases range from 40% in Argentina to 83% in Ireland. The highest SIDS rates in 1990 (≥2.0 in 1000 live births) were in Ireland, New Zealand, and Scotland. More recently, the highest SIDS rates (≥0.5 in 1000 live births) were in New Zealand and the United States. The lowest rates (≤ 0.2 in 1000) were in Japan and the Netherlands. Since 2000, the SIDS rates in most of the countries have declined minimally.

Even though the numbers of infants dying each year are decreasing we must continue to do research until there are no more infants dying unexpectedly and mysteriously.  I find it particularly interesting that it seems to affect various ethnic backgrounds differently.  This alone it reason enough to continue to collect data and further our research on this devastating mystery.

http://kidshealth.org/

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org

The Differences in Child Birth Experiences

When my son was born he was 6 weeks early and came unexpectedly. I was 34 weeks pregnant and began to have contractions.  I went to the doctor's office and was given a stress test.  My son was displaying signs of distress and I was told to go immediately to the hospital and check myself in.  He was born later that afternoon via emergency C-Section.  His Apgar scores were not good and he was immediately removed from the delivery room and taken to the NICU.  His was grey, his breathing was shallow and he was weakening quickly.  Since, I had a c-section I was unable to get on my feet and my son and I spent his day of life apart.  This was very difficult as we were missing those initial moments of bonding.     The next day he was diagnosed with phenumonia and placed on a respirator.  I was told by his doctor that they did not expect him to make it through the day.  This was a very emotional time for both myself and my family.  By the grace of God he began to improve in about 4 days and began to get stronger.  I remember at the time being so very thankful that he had been born here in the United States where the dedication and education of the physicians caring for him made the difference between life and death.

As I did some research on options for emergency deliveries in Haiti I quickly realized that my son would not have survived there.  First of all there are not ambulances or medical personnel that can come to you,  hospitals are very few and often staffed by volunteers and limited medical professionals.  C-sctions are performed as a last resort often by those who have been trained in a different medical field or are inexperienced in the procedure.   Typically woman who are unable to deliver their child naturally do not survive childbirth.  Even if you are lucky enough to find someone why can perform a reliable c-section the chances of the baby surviving if it is not healthy are very low.  Some of the volunteer doctors have been trained in infant resuscitation but the infant needs to be strong enough to survive on their own.  It truly saddens me that not all children have access to medical care and makes me even more appreciative for the access to medical care for those of us who live in the United States.