Post by Banker on Oct 16, 2012 6:47:09 GMT 7
Going without food in some households is the norm, says study
Sometimes, Glen Moutelik is so hungry it hurts. Today, as he does each Tuesday, the Liverpool man will go to Anglicare, where, for $1, he will be able to take away a bag of food, toiletries and household items.
For much of this year, Mr Moutelik, who receives the Newstart allowance but who has a medical condition that prevents him from working, has had only $137 a week on which to live after his rent is paid and repayments are deducted for a loan he took from Centrelink.
With this meagre amount he must buy food, toiletries, medications, transport and anything else he needs.
"You give up life," he said. "You can't do anything for pleasure."
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Often, he struggles to afford the bare necessities.
"I can go days without food," he said. "All you can think about is food. Starving is very painful."
According to a new report, Mr Moutelik is not alone. In the most marginalised households of Australia, adults – and, in some cases, children – experience food insecurity.
When There Is Not Enough To Eat, a new report by Anglicare Australia, has found that 93 per cent of people who went to Anglicare emergency relief services for help last March had experienced times when they had run out of food and had no money to buy more.
The survey of 590 people found at least one third had experienced food insecurity – a term used to describe a lack of readily available, safe and nutritious food – on an almost weekly basis.
Respondents described feeling anxious about running out of food, needing to reduce the size of their meals to make food last, or even skipping meals altogether.
Disturbingly, 61 per cent of adults interviewed said there was hunger and one in three adults said they regularly did not eat for a whole day.
In some of the country's low-income households, children are going hungry – and some of those are going hungry often.
In the report, 272 adults were asked a series of confidential questions about their children's experiences. They reported a lack of variety and nutrition in the food that they could afford to give their children. In one in three households with children, adults were regularly forced to cut the size of their children's meals and in 16 per cent of cases, adults reported that their children regularly skipped meals. In 7 per cent of households, children did not eat for a whole day either weekly or in some weeks.
The adults interviewed confidentially on this topic made a number of comments on the impact the lack of food was having on their children, including children observed as being "grumpy", "upset", "embarrassed" and having behavioural problems. Parents said they were concerned their children could not invite friends to the house because there was no food.
Anglicare Australia's executive director, Kasy Chambers, said parents tried to protect their children by deliberately missing meals themselves.
The report, to be released today to coincide with Anti-Poverty Week, suggested that people on income support payments such as Newstart and the disability support pension were at the highest risk of going without food.
Read more: www.smh.com.au/nsw/going-without-food-in-some-households-is-the-norm-says-study-20121016-27nhe.html#ixzz29PlYo8LS
Sometimes, Glen Moutelik is so hungry it hurts. Today, as he does each Tuesday, the Liverpool man will go to Anglicare, where, for $1, he will be able to take away a bag of food, toiletries and household items.
For much of this year, Mr Moutelik, who receives the Newstart allowance but who has a medical condition that prevents him from working, has had only $137 a week on which to live after his rent is paid and repayments are deducted for a loan he took from Centrelink.
With this meagre amount he must buy food, toiletries, medications, transport and anything else he needs.
"You give up life," he said. "You can't do anything for pleasure."
Advertisement
Often, he struggles to afford the bare necessities.
"I can go days without food," he said. "All you can think about is food. Starving is very painful."
According to a new report, Mr Moutelik is not alone. In the most marginalised households of Australia, adults – and, in some cases, children – experience food insecurity.
When There Is Not Enough To Eat, a new report by Anglicare Australia, has found that 93 per cent of people who went to Anglicare emergency relief services for help last March had experienced times when they had run out of food and had no money to buy more.
The survey of 590 people found at least one third had experienced food insecurity – a term used to describe a lack of readily available, safe and nutritious food – on an almost weekly basis.
Respondents described feeling anxious about running out of food, needing to reduce the size of their meals to make food last, or even skipping meals altogether.
Disturbingly, 61 per cent of adults interviewed said there was hunger and one in three adults said they regularly did not eat for a whole day.
In some of the country's low-income households, children are going hungry – and some of those are going hungry often.
In the report, 272 adults were asked a series of confidential questions about their children's experiences. They reported a lack of variety and nutrition in the food that they could afford to give their children. In one in three households with children, adults were regularly forced to cut the size of their children's meals and in 16 per cent of cases, adults reported that their children regularly skipped meals. In 7 per cent of households, children did not eat for a whole day either weekly or in some weeks.
The adults interviewed confidentially on this topic made a number of comments on the impact the lack of food was having on their children, including children observed as being "grumpy", "upset", "embarrassed" and having behavioural problems. Parents said they were concerned their children could not invite friends to the house because there was no food.
Anglicare Australia's executive director, Kasy Chambers, said parents tried to protect their children by deliberately missing meals themselves.
The report, to be released today to coincide with Anti-Poverty Week, suggested that people on income support payments such as Newstart and the disability support pension were at the highest risk of going without food.
Read more: www.smh.com.au/nsw/going-without-food-in-some-households-is-the-norm-says-study-20121016-27nhe.html#ixzz29PlYo8LS
