| By Bob Weaver 2022
The nonprofit Feeding America describes food insecurity as âa lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life.â
West Virginia particularly struggles with poverty and hunger, according to America Health Rankings. The Mountain State ranks second in the nation (worst) for high rates of food insecurity and first (worst) in childhood obesity despite having high levels of physical activity in children (ranked 10th in the nation).
Their diet is imbued with with sugar water and sugary fat snacks.
Calhoun ranks 3rd (near worst) in West Virginia with food insecurity.
America Health Rankings found that less than two-thirds (62.3%) of children lived in a household that could always afford to eat good, nutritious meals in 2019-2020, compared to the national average of 70%.
Some parents may have to pay for school lunch next year.
Food insecurity hits children particularly hard, with Feeding America estimating that 13 million children may experience food insecurity in 2021âthatâs one in six children.
And the estimate for West Virginiaâs children is one in five. Not having consistent access to enough food can affect cognitive abilities, overall health, moods, and attention spansânot to mention the psychological effects of living with scarcity.
Stacker compiled a list of counties in West Virginia with the highest rate of food insecure children using data from Feeding America.
Calhoun County is near the worst (3rd) with a child food insecurity rate of 29.3%, with the number of food insecure children at 420, the percentage of children in households with income below 185% FPL or 66.0%.
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