Hunger is defined by the United Nations as the periods when people experience severe food insecurity—meaning that they go for entire days without eating due to lack of money, access to food, or other resources.
Here are some definitions of key terms:
- Hunger is the distress associated with lack of food. The threshold for food deprivation, or undernourishment, is fewer than 1,800 calories per day.
- Undernutrition goes beyond calories to signify deficiencies in energy, protein, and/or essential vitamins and minerals.
- Malnutrition refers more broadly to both undernutrition and overnutrition.
- Food security relates to food availability, access, and utilization. When people have consistent and adequate access to enough safe and nutritious food to maintain an active and healthy life, they are considered food secure.
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What happens when people go hungry?
Prolonged periods of food insecurity can lead to malnutrition, which occurs when the body lacks sufficient vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients needed to thrive.
A multilayered issue, malnutrition manifests in many forms, including:
- Wasting, or acute malnutrition: When one is too thin for their height. This can happen suddenly, caused by a severe hunger crisis, or something that occurs gradually but persistently. It can be treated, but moderate and severe cases carry an increased risk of death.
- Stunting, or chronic malnutrition: When a child is too short for their age. This can occur when children do not have access to diverse nutrients, drink dirty or contaminated water, or lack proper healthcare. Stunted growth in children can cause life-long physical and cognitive damage.
- Micronutrient deficiencies: When the body lacks a type of vitamin or mineral (e.g., iron, iodine, folate, vitamin A, and zinc deficiencies) needed for healthy growth and development.
- Being overweight: When someone is too heavy for one’s height. A poor diet can cause someone to be overweight, putting them at greater risk of diet-related, non-communicable diseases later in life.
