It’s no surprise given the state of the American economy that the number of homeless families is on the rise. According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, hundreds of thousands of American families become homeless every year, including 1.5 million children.

The economy is prompting a surge in a particular breed of homeless youth: runaways. Many government and advocacy organizations are reporting that as more families contend with poverty, unemployment, and foreclosures, the number of juveniles living on their own is rising, including many children under the age of 13.

The New York Times recently reported that an estimated 1.6 million juveniles run away or are thrown out of their homes annually. Runaway youth have a particularly hard time because they are often too young to sign a lease or find legitimate employment. Exposure to violence is often a way of life for many homeless children and youth: by age 12, 83% have been exposed to at least one serious violent event and almost 25% have witnessed acts of violence within their families.

More American children are going to bed hungry than at any time in recent history. And the problem is getting worse. A new study by Washington University professor and poverty expert Mark Rank, Ph.D., finds that 49% of all children in the U.S. will be on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly food stamps, at some point in their childhood. For African-American children, the number is closer to 90%.

Childhood should be a time of healthy growth, play, and learning, but as Dr. Rank says, “Rather than being a time of security and safety, the childhood years for many American children are a time of economic turmoil, risk, and hardship.”

Poor or inadequate nutrition can cause irreversible damage to a child’s brain and psychosocial development, physical growth, and behavior. Dr. Rank says, “Food stamp use is a clear sign of poverty and food insecurity, two of the most detrimental economic conditions affecting a child’s health.” Thanks to a sputtering economy, the health of our nation’s children is at risk as more children are at risk of hunger.

That’s why Feed The Children exists. We work every day to provide hunger relief to the children in our midst. Our Americans Feeding Americans Emergency Caravan™ continues to roll. We’ve increased the number of food drops with local churches and community organizations to the highest level in Feed The Children’s history. Dr. Rank’s study gives hard evidence to what we’re seeing – more kids and their families needing food assistance than ever before. We will continue this fight against childhood hunger until we no longer have to.

Recently, Secretary of State Clinton unveiled the Administration’s new global food security strategy, which promotes the role of agriculture advancement in developing countries, and represents a shift from historic emergency food assistance focus. In the past, America has sent millions of tons of wheat, corn and other commodities to help starving children in the developing world. Under the new proposal, in addition to supplying emergency food aid, the U.S. will also lead in efforts to help developing nations better feed their own people. American-led “know how” and investments in agriculture, through research, technology, infrastructure improvements, and education, will yield long-term, sustainable solutions and ultimately, in the Secretary’s words, “[address] the underlying causes of hunger.”

Earlier this year, the United Nations World Food Program revealed that more than 1 billion people in the world are hungry. This recent increase in the number of hungry people worldwide reverses a 30-year downward trend that saw success against hunger here and abroad. Now, every six seconds a child in the developing world dies from hunger. This devastation causes untold suffering and must end. Now is the time for our country to take the lead and make the necessary investments to ensure that no child dies from hunger. Feed The Children strongly supports this initiative and will continue our work to see that these investments are made.