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A
recent Meals on Wheels study found that more than five million American
seniors face the threat of hunger. —photo©istockphotos.com/BonnieJacobs
Report
Fuels Concern About Feeding Hungry Seniors
By
Michael A. Piekarz
Staff Writer
Over
five million American seniors face the threat of hunger, and that
number will grow unless government and the private sector take
steps to alleviate the problem, according to a March 2008 study
from the Meal on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) Foundation.
The study, entitled “The Causes, Consequences, and Future of Senior Hunger
in America” found that more than five million Americans — over 10
percent of all seniors — face the threat of hunger.
According to MOWAA, the study is the most comprehensive national research study
to date on the problems and causes of hunger that seniors face and how these
trends will continue into the future as our society ages.
“Hunger is a disease that is affecting our country, but unlike other diseases
we have a cure for hunger today,” said Enid Borden, president and CEO of
MOWAA.
The study found that impoverished seniors are more likely to be at risk and that
half of all seniors have incomes above federal poverty guidelines. Married seniors
were found to be less at risk, but those living with one or more grandchildren
saw a sharp increase in their vulnerability to hunger. Those aged 60-64 faced
the highest risk. Most hungry seniors — nearly two thirds — were
white.
The research was conducted by James Ziliak, Ph.D., director of the Center for
Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky and Craig Gundersen, Ph.D., of
the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Iowa State University.
They were assisted by Margaret Haist, Ph.D., senior researcher at the University
of Kentucky.
Funding for the study was provided by Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., the
largest corporate sponsor of MOWAA since 2002. Harrah’s underwrote the
hunger study through the Harrah’s Foundation as part of the company’s
Code of Commitment, which establishes the principals used by Harrah’s in
its relationships with employees, customers and communities.

“Seniors are a focus of our philanthropic giving because, frankly, the
needs of our growing senior population have too often been ignored by corporate
America,” said Jan Jones, Harrah’s senior vice president of communications
and government affairs at a Senate hearing to discuss the study.
“The Harrah’s Foundation has focused on the needs of our seniors
since its inception,” she said.
“We are pleased that the MOWAA-commissioned research provides a better
understanding of the extent of senior hunger,” Jones said. “What
excites us most is that it will help in the development and implementation of
targeted, fact-based interventions that can increase the effectiveness of both
private sector and public sector efforts to reduce senior hunger.”
Concern is growing about the viability of senior nutrition programs. According
to MOWAA, four out of 10 Meals On Wheels programs have waiting lists, and some
are facing bankruptcy. With the boomer generation nearing retirement, and gas
prices on the rise, meal services are both more important and more endangered
than ever before.
“I challenge my colleagues in corporate America to join Harrah’s
by taking a leadership role in the Corporate Response to Senior Hunger program
developed by Meals on Wheels,” said Jones.
“Together, we can help by making food products more readily available to
meal providers, encouraging improvements to the meal delivery system, offering
skills and experience to meal providers and advocating for them before policymakers,” she
said.
Programs to feed seniors have faced increased scrutiny as America continues to
prepare for the boomer retirement wave. The Senate Special Committee on Aging,
the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and the Senate Hunger Caucus
are taking steps to address the issue.
“Federal programs like the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and the
Elderly Nutrition Program, as well as nonprofit organizations such as Meals on
Wheels, make a huge impact by delivering food directly to seniors in their own
homes,” said Senator Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Committee on Aging.
Kohl, who also chairs the Senate Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee, stated
he is working to increase federal funding for older Americans through the Commodity
Supplemental Food Program. There are several other programs working to alleviate
senior hunger, according to Kohl.
“The food stamp program is another valuable federal program, although estimates
show that it is underutilized. Only one in three eligible seniors actually enrolls
in the food stamp program. In spite of the fact that these programs and services
cover only a fraction of the low-income seniors who need them, we continue to
face a yearly battle with the administration to provide these programs with adequate
funding,” Kohl stated.

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Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
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