Hunger and its Effects
Hunger is the situation where an animal is in a situation where they desire food. An animal in this case also refers to a human being. Hunger is caused by a lack of or inadequate presence of food. If a human being does not eat for sometime in a day, he or she will feel a desire to have food thus leading to a feeling of emptiness of the stomach and the person is then said to be hungry.
Effects of hunger
Hunger causes many effects on human life. These effects may be social effects, economic effects, family effects, mental effects, and many others. These effects actually cause a negative impact on human life, which is not desirable.
Social effect
Social denotes the way a person or people relate to other people around them. The effect of hunger on a person’s relation may be immense. A hungry person cannot be as energetic as a person who is not hungry. Because of this, the person will not be able to walk and even sometimes, he or she may not be able to talk. This will affect a person’s ability to socialize with others.
Economic effect
Every economy in the world is nurtured by people. These people must contribute to the economy to make it grow. In case of hunger, many people who affected by hungers are likely to become unproductive thus they will not be able to contribute to the economy. This means that the economy’s growth and prosperity will be hindered. This may even lead to the collapsing of a whole economy if there is no immediate care implemented to reverse the deteriorating economy. The more people are hungry, the less the workforce required to produce food. If this continues in a given area, the fewer people who are producing food will be overpowered and the population and area may succumb.
Effect to the family
A family is a group of people who are closely related. A family has a direct connection to a person’s life. Many people who suffer from prolonged hunger may develop nutrition-related deficiencies and illnesses that in severe cases may be fatal. If this happens, the family will be greatly affected especially when the affected family member is the sole breadwinner responsible for providing for the family. The loss of a beloved relative may also be traumatizing and debilitating for the family.
Mental effect
Mental effects designate factors that influence the function of an individual’s mental capacity in their daily life. Cases of hunger, deprivation and the effects of hunger, such as illnesses result in limited mental health especially when individuals develop anxiety and depression. As such, impaired mental capacity not only lowers one’s quality of life but also affects the lives of others associating with them.
In the US, cases of hunger have been experienced in many parts. For example, in Texas, there are about 18.4%, Ohio 16.1%, California 15.6%, and Mississippi 20.9%. In general, the US recorded 14.7% of cases in 2012. This has caused many to go without food leading to human health complications such as malnutrition.
Around the world, many cases of hunger have been from the poorest countries. These countries include Haiti with a poverty rate of 77% and the population of 10,123,787. Sierra Leone has a poverty rate of 66.4% and a population of 5,997,486. Haiti has experienced calamities such as earthquakes that destroyed the country’s infrastructure leading to a declining economy and increased poverty. Sierra Leone has faced a lot of political instability leading to less production and poor economy.