COLUMBUS – The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, Ohio’s largest charitable response to hunger
and Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, has released a new study which
reveals that 26.5 percent of Ohio children under the age of 18 are struggling with hunger. That amounts
to some 731,040 children.
The study, "Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2011", also reveals that there are children
struggling with hunger in every county in America.
Nationally, while one in six Americans overall is food insecure, the rate for children is much higher:
nearly one in four children is food insecure.
"The number of children who are at risk of hunger is startling to many, but this number comes as no
surprise to those involved in Ohio’s emergency food assistance network," noted Lisa Hamler-Fugitt,
executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, speaking to Feeding America’s
2011 study.
At a time when more and more parents are finding themselves out of work and stretching what little
resources they have left to make ends meet, children are feeling the effects of our state’s depleted
economy. We must stand up for our state’s most vulnerable populations, especially Ohio’s children, and
ensure that the resources necessary to feed our future are available."
"Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity" provides the following data for Ohio in an
interactive map format:
• 26.5 percent of children in Ohio are food insecure.
• 60 percent of food insecure children in Ohio live in a household with incomes below 185 percent of the
federal poverty level, meaning that they and their families could be eligible for help, including
federal child nutrition programs.
• 40 percent of food insecure children in Ohio live in a household with incomes above 185 percent of the
federal poverty level, meaning that they are not eligible for assistance from federal child nutrition
programs. The only programs available to serve these children and their families are The Emergency Food
Assistance Network and state funded food programs, operated by the Ohio Association of Second Harvest
Foodbanks and Ohio’s 12 Feeding America foodbanks.
An executive summary of the report can be found at: feedingamerica.org/mapthegap/childsummary . The study
is an important tool because it provides critical information for developing strategies to alleviate
child hunger. Throughout Ohio, the percentage of food insecurity among children ranges from below one in
five in Delaware County (19.4 percent) to more than one in three in Pike County (38.5 percent)
By providing additional details about the face of child food insecurity at the county level, "Map
the Meal Gap: 2011" will enable food banks, the community based agencies they serve and policy
makers to redefine approaches in addressing needs of hungry children and their families and develop more
effective policy solutions.
