Published by: Megan Sandel on 9/8/2011 2:19:44 PM
What is your image of hunger? For most people, it is synonymous with pictures of famine in Somalia: bloated bellies, sunken eyes. But in America, there is another face to hunger. It’s the picture of a homeless two year old child that is the size of a one year old, or the elderly woman whose feet swell since she can’t afford both her diuretic medication and food. As providers at safety net hospitals, we know what hunger looks like. We witness the effects of hunger every day.
At Boston Medical Center (BMC), we have many projects designed to track and alleviate hunger. Children’s HealthWatch (http://www.childrenshealthwatch.org), based at BMC, is a pediatric research center tracking the impact of public policy on young children. We found in the past two years in Boston a 50 percent increase of underweight children 0-3 years, from 12 percent to 18 percent. Though it may not seem large, it means almost one in five children in our emergency rooms are at risk for malnutrition and weakened immune systems, making it harder to treat their illnesses.
At BMC, we fight this trend with our preventative food pantry, where families can go home with bags of healthy food. Last month we served more than 7,000 families, double what we did two years ago. We are the medical safety net for malnourished or underweight children with our multi-disciplinary GROW clinic, which helps children who are failing to thrive get back onto the growth curve, growing their bodies and brains for a lifetime. We provide legal services to our patients through Medical-Legal Partnerships (http://www.medical-legalpartnership.org), ensuring families get the be benefits they deserve, such as food stamps, or get housing conditions fixed to avoid homelessness.
The cure for hunger is not rocket science. It is food. To deliver that prescription means going beyond what is considered normal medical care, something safety net hospitals do every day. In these lean economic times, when our patients need us most, it is time for our nation, our state, and our communities to invest in - not divest from - the preventative care and the policies that protect our vulnerable populations. We can win the war on hunger and its poor health effects, and the frontlines of safety net hospitals are the place for the battle to begin through innovative solutions, service and surveillance.
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Megan Sandel, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health, Boston University School of Medicine and the Boston University School of Public Health
Pediatrician, Boston Medical Center
Interim Executive Director, National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership