Children’s Drawings Show What Hunger Looks Like in Venezuela [View all]

[Zorro]

Arepas are a staple food item among Venezuelan families. The flat cornmeal cakes, often stuffed with grilled meat, beans, or eggs, are found at nearly every meal. But for many children in Venezuela subsisting solely on arepas, what was once just part of their cultural identity is now a symbol of growing food shortages in the struggling country.

Primary school students in the capital city of Caracas are coming to school hungry, Reuters reports. After several students fainted from hunger, teachers at the Padre Jose Maria Velaz school in western Caracas asked them to draw what they’d eaten in recent meals and what they expected to eat soon. The simple drawings show days of eating arepas for every meal, dinners consisting of a mango, and breakfasts of bread and water. Several children left blank spaces, indicating that they had skipped meals.

Meat and vegetables are largely lacking from the kids’ meals. Diets made up entirely of fats and starches have left children malnourished. Health officials note that diets missing out on protein and dairy could negatively affect brain development. School director Maria Hidalgo told Reuters that a quarter of the 478 students are not getting enough to eat or are eating unbalanced meals.

Children aren’t the only ones struggling. Nearly 90 percent of Venezuelans said they do not have enough money to buy food because of the country’s economic conditions, a recent survey conducted by Simón Bolívar University found.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/children-drawings-show-hunger-looks-venezuela-144746198.html