In West Virginia, 1 in 5 children struggles with hunger. The physical and psychological impact of hunger on growing bodies is linked to a host of downstream physical, emotional and social consequences.
Think Kids is working to build bridges between health care and food access systems in our state. This project seeks the input of professionals in the field around our state to assess collaborative efforts, challenges, and recommendations for policy reform.
Thanks to support from the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington, we’re held our latest Regional Health and Hunger Summit Series in Boone, Lincoln, and Logan Counties.
NEW: Our Issue Brief— Health & Hunger in WV: Building Bridges at the Community Level in Boone, Lincoln, Logan Counties is out! You can read and download it from our Issuu site. Print copies will be available soon.
Many thanks to the attendees, panelists, and sponsors who shared their time and thoughts with us. We hope this report serves as a catalyst for continuing conversations on building these bridges.
Did you miss any or all of the 2021 Health and Hunger Summit Sessions? You can still view them on our YouTube channel.
In Sept/Oct of 2020, we held our first Health and Hunger Summit Series in West Virginia. With four virtual sessions, we drafted an issue brief that recaps the panelists’ thoughts on the state of hunger and health in West Virginia, the challenges to addressing hunger in the primary care setting, the struggle to address food insecurity during the pandemic, and policy recommendations to improving bridges between systems. Read the series’ brief online or download it here.
You can watch all four sessions of the 2020 Health and Hunger Summit Series on our YouTube Channel.
Sydney Mangialetti and Gina Valentino with the Marshal University Department of Dietetics shares with us a simple, inexpensive and healthy meal that many of us can try during the holiday season. Great job!
Obesity and Hunger can be consequences of low income and lack of access to healthy foods. Poverty can make people more vulnerable to both. Watch our Facebook Live event as we talk with Merinda Stricklen with KEYS for Healthy Kids and and Dr. Amy Gannon with Marshall University’s Dept of Dietetics about new childhood obesity rates, how obesity and hunger exist in the same spaces, and ways we can address both with policy, system and environmental changes in our state and communities.
