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Our world is also faced with the other extreme of course: every day many people go hungry around the world. Not just in poor countries (as we see on TV many times) but also in rich countries like the United States, Canada and Germany. Currently, over 800 million people on the globe (nearly three times the population of the United States) suffer hunger every day and the number is rising again! In the United States, roughly 35 million people (24 million adults and 12 million children!) are not able to obtain sufficient food for their households on an every day basis, and 11 million of them actually suffer hunger. This would be equivalent to the combined number of people living in New York and Chicago!
Poverty is a major reason why people go hungry. Around the world, wars, natural disasters, lack of good government (such as administration, legal systems, ownership of land, etc.) or insufficient infrastructure (like roads, markets, investments, research, etc.) are the main causes why so many people are poor. And poverty is a vicious cycle - once you're in, it's extremely hard to get out. This is as true for individuals as for entire nations.
What happens when you go hungry over a long period of time? You won't get the essential nutrients and energy your body requires. Your natural defenses will become weak and as a result, common diseases will inflict you more often and more severely. You will suffer constant aches and pains, and your body and brain will develop more slowely. After longer periods of hunger or starvation, people will eventually die.
Besides poverty, two types of mental disorders may also cause people to suffer hunger, which are called "anorexia nervosa" and 'bulimia nervosa." About 8 million people or 2% of the US population suffer from these disorders, predominantly women and teenage girls. Driven by an unrealistic and unhealthy beauty ideal, an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted self/body image, people starve themselves (anorexia) or vomit voluntarily the food they just ate (bulimia). In some cases, anorexia can lead to early death. Both anorexia and bulimia need to be treated with long term psychological and medical care. (For more information visit the website of the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.)
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