Anywhere from 25 to 40% of children in Western North Carolina are food insecure. That’s the latest phrase intended not to stigmatize children on welfare. Again, we probably all know more than a few food insecure children who play on huge-screen computers and drive around on electric scooters. Their mom is getting her hair and nails done and still has enough for cigarettes and clubbing. When you buy these kids lunch, they throw it out and demand something else. What’s more, WNC Healthy Kids reports that most WNC counties have childhood obesity rates in excess of 15%. Supposing food insecure children are not also obese (which we all know not to be the case), that would mean fewer than half the kids in WNC are even slightly OK. How many of the forty-some percent are just fat or undernourished?
by Leslee Kulba
Wild West blogger