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Washington Child Hunger Facts
November 05, 2007
The
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC) serves almost half of all Washington state babies, one-third of
pregnant women and one- fourth of children under 5 years old. WIC
participation rose 42.3 percent in the past 10 years. (Washington State
Department of Health)
17.5 percent of Washington children,
256,202 under age 18, live in poverty. (Food Research and Action
Center, State of the States 2006).
Twenty-six of Washington’s 39
counties report 20 to 38 percent of their students in poverty— 140,000
school-aged children living in families whose income is below the
poverty level. (Children’s Alliance, Poverty and Food Insecurity Among
School Aged Children in Washington).
Participation in school
breakfast programs rose 49.5 percent in 2004-05. Over 291,000
Washington students ate free and reduced-price lunches—more than those
who paid full lunch prices. Summer Nutrition Program participation rose
46.5 percent over the past 10 years, but just 15 percent of children
receiving free or reduced-price school meals participate in summer
lunch programs. (Food Research and Action Center, State of the States
2006).
While 2,097 Washington schools operated the school lunch
program, only 69 sponsors offered 430 summer food service sites, and
only 57 percent of the high-poverty school districts were covered.
(Children’s Alliance, Poverty and Food Insecurity Among School Aged
Children in Washington).
The number of Washington state households participating in the food stamp program rose by 10.4 percent from 2004-05. (USDA).
In
fiscal year 2005, 72.3 percent more persons used the Food Stamp Program
than five years ago. (Food Research and Action Center, State of the
States 2006).
In Washington state in 2002-2004, 12 percent of
households were food insecure, just above the national average of 11.4
percent. (Economic Research Service/USDA, Household Food Security in
the United States, 2004).
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