THE HIGH COST OF HUNGER

Hunger costs the U.S. at least $160 billion in poor health outcomes and additional healthcare expenses – and about half of these hunger-related health costs ($78.7 billion) were due to depression, anxiety or suicide. Research shows that children who grow up in impoverished or food-insecure households are exposed to toxic levels of stress that contribute to the early onset of chronic diseases and make children more vulnerable to depression and thoughts of suicide, substance abuse, and dropping out of school. Not finishing school severely limits employment opportunities in adulthood. The mental burden of hunger does not ease with age. Food-insecure seniors are 60 percent more likely to experience depression than their food-secure counterparts,

Source: Bread for the World, 3/29/16, Hunger & Mental Health