Ranks of hungry children swell, worrying doctors

This in no way should encourage you to store food, and buy seeds (and a shotgun or rifle). You know, so you could actually feed yourself as the economy continues to crumble - I mean recover. Remain hopelessly dependent on the grid, and trust that government will take care of you. Stories like these, you should ignore. Or, even better, blame the parents for being lazy, worthless parasites. There there...everything is okay. Go watch TV.

Boston Globe -

Doctors at a major Boston hospital report they are seeing more hungry and dangerously thin young children in the emergency room than at any time in more than a decade of surveying families.

Many families are unable to afford enough healthy food to feed their children, say the Boston Medical Center doctors. The resulting chronic hunger threatens to leave scores of infants and toddlers with lasting learning and developmental problems.

Before the economy soured in 2007, 12 percent of youngsters age 3 and under whose families were randomly surveyed in the hospital’s emergency department were significantly underweight. In 2010, that percentage jumped to 18 percent, and the tide does not appear to be abating, said Dr. Megan Sandel, an associate professor of pediatrics and public health at BMC.

“Food is costing more, and dollars don’t stretch as far,’’ Sandel said. “It’s hard to maintain a diet that is healthy.’’

Read all of it.