Nearly one in eight low-income Baltimore City families worry they don?t have enough food, which affects young children?s physical and mental development, a study shows.
“Children?s nutritional demands are very high in the first three years of life,” said Maureen Black, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who led the study released Tuesday.
About 13.5 percent of families receiving care at two University of Maryland hospital locations suffer from what researchers called food insecurity, where they don?t have enough food because of financial constraints.
Food-insecure families reported that in the past year, they were worried the food would run out before they could afford more or that they did not have enough money to buy more food, researchers said.
Family members often fill up on cheaper food with less nutritional value, such as fast food.
“It?s an invisible malnutrition in this country,” said David Paige, professor of population and family health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
A lack of nutritional food can stifle a young child?s development, Black said.
“Children who start school behind the eight ball, delayed, don?t catch up,” she said at a news conference in front of a Women, Infant and Children office in Baltimore City.
Fewer than half of food-insecure families received food assistance from food stamps and WIC, prompting city health officials to start a campaign to connect families with food.
The Baltimore City Health Department partnered with the Department of Social Services, 311 and the Maryland Food Bank to start a Web site, HungryInBaltimore.org, listing food resources. The Health Department also will send letters to pediatric clinicians on how to screen for food insecurity and connect families to these programs.
“Hopefully, we can use these findings to turn the tide on hunger in Baltimore,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Joshua Sharfstein.
