--- title: Study: Effects of Childhood Hunger Last for Decades description: Going hungry is a major contributor to ill health, particularly among children, and a new report reveals how long-lasting the damage can be.Researchers at the... canonical: https://time.com/archive/6934572/study-effects-of-childhood-hunger-last-for-decades/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2010-08-02T04:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-23T04:38:47.444Z article:section: Health og:title: Study: Effects of Childhood Hunger Last for Decades og:description: Going hungry is a major contributor to ill health, particularly among children, and a new report reveals how long-lasting the damage can be.Researchers at the... og:url: https://time.com/archive/6934572/study-effects-of-childhood-hunger-last-for-decades/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6736e1205e6c2e2c/698a4e27457a522eced6979a/360_hungry_children_0730.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 360 og:image:height: 203 og:image:alt: 360_hungry_children_0730.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Study: Effects of Childhood Hunger Last for Decades twitter:description: Going hungry is a major contributor to ill health, particularly among children, and a new report reveals how long-lasting the damage can be.Researchers at the... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6736e1205e6c2e2c/698a4e27457a522eced6979a/360_hungry_children_0730.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # Study: Effects of Childhood Hunger Last for Decades > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=b5ccc324-46ec-4bd3-bf8e-80790d3a9ec2&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/) Aug 2, 2010 4:00 AM UTC  Children and youths who experience repeated episodes of hunger are more likely to have health problems Children and youths who experience repeated episodes of hunger are more likely to have health problems Peter Cade / Getty Images by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/) Aug 2, 2010 4:00 AM UTC Going hungry is a major contributor to ill health, particularly among children, and a new report reveals how long-lasting the damage can be. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the University of Calgary performed the first long-term study on the effects of hunger on general health, tracking children from birth to 21 years. Most studies to date have offered only snapshots of childhood health, assessing the short-term impact of hunger over a period of time. [(See nine kid foods to avoid.)](https://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1824402%5F1824398,00.html) In the new analysis, the scientists found that children who went hungry at least once in their lives were 2½ times more likely to have poor overall health 10 to 15 years later, compared with those who never had to go without food. “Our research shows that hunger and food insecurity are really damaging in terms of children’s life chances,” says lead author Sharon Kirkpatrick, a visiting fellow at NCI. The study supports earlier findings that multiple episodes of hunger are more likely to cause ill health than an isolated experience of starvation: children in Kirkpatrick’s analysis who experienced two or more periods of hunger were more than four times as likely to report poor health than those who never went hungry. The relationship, she says, remained strong even after the team accounted for other factors that could influence health, such as age, sex and household characteristics like income. [(See the top 10 bad beverage ideas.)](https://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1913612%5F1913610,00.html) Even one experience of hunger can have lasting effects on a child’s health, a fact that is especially troubling in light of the sobering rise in U.S. households that were forced to do without food in 2008: 15% of American families reported some compromise in the amount or quality of food they consumed, up from 11% the previous year. While this study did not delve into the specific mechanism by which hunger affects long-term health, Kirkpatrick speculates that both psychological and physiological factors may be at work. Aside from the obvious negative impact that missing key nutrients and calories can have on growth and development, she says, the psychological stress of food insecurity — not being able to afford a consistent and high-quality source of food — can be harmful to youngsters as well. In an editorial accompanying the study, published in the _Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine_, pediatricians propose enhancing and expanding existing child-nutrition programs made possible through legislation like the Child Nutrition Program Act, which provides funding for food and nutrition efforts, including the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, to ensure that more children get the food they need. “The research really pushes us to look at the impact that various policy interventions on food insecurity can have on health,” says Kirkpatrick. “It’s unacceptable that in countries like the U.S. and Canada, we’re talking about millions of children living in households with uncertain food access.” [See pictures of what makes you eat more food.](https://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626481,00.html) [See 10 myths about dieting.](https://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1896439%5F1896359,00.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6934572/study-effects-of-childhood-hunger-last-for-decades/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6934572/study-effects-of-childhood-hunger-last-for-decades/"},"headline":"Study: Effects of Childhood Hunger Last for Decades","datePublished":"2010-08-02T04:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-23T04:38:47.444Z","description":"Going hungry is a major contributor to ill health, particularly among children, and a new report reveals how long-lasting the damage can be.Researchers at the...","url":"https://time.com/archive/6934572/study-effects-of-childhood-hunger-last-for-decades/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6736e1205e6c2e2c/698a4e27457a522eced6979a/360_hungry_children_0730.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6736e1205e6c2e2c/698a4e27457a522eced6979a/360_hungry_children_0730.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"360_hungry_children_0730.jpg","caption":"Children and youths who experience repeated episodes of hunger are more likely to have health problems","creditText":"Peter Cade / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/6934572/study-effects-of-childhood-hunger-last-for-decades/","name":"Study: Effects of Childhood Hunger Last for Decades"}}]}] ```