When Americans think of childhood hunger, they might picture the skeletal frames and swollen bellies of children from faraway nations — but that isn't the full story.

According to Feeding America , 1 in 7 people in the U.S. face hunger every year. The rates of hunger in children are even higher, with about 1 in 5 lacking proper access to food at some point during the year.

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"You see a lot of PSAs about international hunger and how hunger is threatening lives around the world," Clay Dunn, chief communications officer at nonprofit No Kid Hungry , tells Mashable. "What most people don't realize is that we have an epidemic of hunger right here."

"We have an epidemic of hunger right here."

It's called food insecurity, and it's a metric tracked by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pinpoint how many households struggle during the year to provide food for their families.

"[Food insecurity] looks like lots of things," Dunn says. "It looks like empty cupboards in some households. It looks like having to choose between paying the electric bill or buying groceries in other households. There are a lot of families struggling to make ends meet, stretching money to cover costs, including food."

In the U.S., hunger is caused by the prevalence of poverty, not food scarcity. Stable food access is often blocked for low-income families that struggle to balance the need for food with other basic necessities.

Whether your realize it or not, this is an issue in your community, too. Feeding America found that food insecurity exists in every county and congressional district in the country.

How does hunger impact your community? Explore new "Map the Meal Gap" data: https://t.co/lgkhpG9n0q pic.twitter.com/5vNIDpfyEM — Feeding America (@FeedingAmerica) April 28, 2016

The realities of food insecurity often mean that kids especially lack food access in summer months — a time when families can't rely on free or reduced lunch programs to pick up some of the burden of feeding their children.

"About 21 million children receive free or reduced lunch in school," Ross Fraser, director of media relations at Feeding America, tells Mashable. "And, of those, about 10 million also receive free breakfast. When schools close, about 18 million of those kids lose access to free meals in the summer."

With such a large issue impacting our local and national communities, here are six illuminating facts about child hunger in the United States — and what you can do to help.

1. 16 million American kids struggle with hunger each year.

An estimated 48.8 million Americans , including 16.2 million children, live in households that lack the means to get enough nutritious food on a regular basis.

As a result, about 1 in 5 children go hungry at some point during the year.

2. 62% of teachers say children in their classrooms are coming to school hungry.

Fighting against statistics like this is one reason I #lovetoserve pic.twitter.com/T1Hg88m1Kc — VUCF Hunger (@vucf_hunger) October 9, 2014

Educators in the U.S. are acutely aware of childhood hunger's massive impact. About 3 out of 4 American teachers notice their students aren't able to access adequate amounts of food.

"Children come to school hungry, and a hungry child can't learn," Dunn says. "We need to make sure their stomachs are full so they are hungry for knowledge, not food."

School lunches — and the uptick of school breakfast programs — help curb some of the barriers in access. But lacking stable food access at home can have devastating impacts on a child's ability to get the most out of their education.

3. Children facing hunger are twice as likely to repeat a grade in elementary school.

Children who go hungry are more likely to miss school and receive poorer grades — which leads to trouble keeping up in class.

"There is a direct correlation between lack of nutrition and thwarted development."

Hunger is also associated with stomachaches, headaches, depression, anxiety and a decreased ability to focus — all of which have an impact on educational attainment.

Research shows that hungry kids also struggle socially and behaviorally, making their experiences in school less than enjoyable. Studies have found that children from food-insecure families are more likely to drop out of high school before graduation.

"Not only is it tragic for kids to go hungry, but there are terrible ramifications," Fraser says. "We know there is a direct correlation between lack of nutrition and thwarted development."

4. Nearly half of all food stamp recipients are children.

MT@CallOut4: 45% of food stamp users r children pic.twitter.com/fpIwv9UG4j Which Dems voted 2 CUT SNAP- and what r u going to do about it? #pfla — Nick Ruiz, Ph.D (@NRIII) July 12, 2013

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — also known as SNAP, or food stamps — was put in place to help curb hunger in the U.S. Though the program is heavily stigmatized due to misconceptions that adults collect assistance they don't truly need, that myth is shattered by the fact that the program mostly serves children at risk of hunger.

Approximately 8.5 million American children received SNAP in 2010, the latest figures available. Perhaps most surprisingly, a staggering 49.2% of American kids will receive SNAP benefits at some point in their childhoods.

5. 20% of food-insecure families are not eligible for government assistance.

Though 8.5 million American children receive government assistance like SNAP to combat hunger, that doesn't address the full problem. Around 1 in 5 families with children with children experiencing food insecurity do not qualify for assistance-based programs, whether it's due to household income, employment requirements or otherwise.

Being locked out of government programs means these families face unique obstacles, not quite qualifying for safety nets, but not being able to make ends meet either.

6. Black and Latino children experience hunger at double the rate of white children.

More than 1 in 4 black households lack food security, compared to 1 in 10 white households. For Latino families, food insecurity affects 1 in 5 households .

Wealth inequality and a general lack of access to financial opportunity have a major impact on the amount and quality of food many non-white families can put on the table.

What you can do to help

Advocate

Dunn says the single most important thing people can do is become vocal advocates for children who do not have enough to eat — especially when it comes to federal funding for hunger-related programs.

"There are lobbyists for a lot of things out there," Dunn says. "But hungry kids don't have lobbyists."

While hungry children know they are hungry, they often don't have the platform to have their voices and needs heard — especially on a national scale. That's why advocates are essential.

"We need people to say that we can do better for our kids."

"Senators and congressmen respond to the will of the people," Fraser says. "And if we can have 50,000 advocates call and say, 'For God's sake, don't cut food stamps. What are you thinking?' — that does make a difference."

Fraser says Feeding America encourages advocates to call Congress to show their passion for the issue. To read up on the impact of federal programs, visit here before calling your representative. Contact information for congressional representatives can be found here .

Dunn says No Kid Hungry uses an email list to connect individuals with both local and national opportunities to advocate. To join the list, click here .

"We need people to say that we can do better for our kids, and that no child deserves to grow up hungry," Dunn days.

Volunteer

Happy National Volunteer Appreciation Month! Thx to all #FeedingAmerica network volunteers for your time & service.https://t.co/BTj6ixtX4P — Feeding America (@FeedingAmerica) April 13, 2016

Volunteering can have an immediately tangible impact on your local community. Food banks need volunteers who will sort, package and distribute food to food-insecure families — which directly helps hungry children in those families.

"Finding a local organization that really speaks to your needs and asking them how you can help is hugely beneficial," Dunn says.

Feeding America's nationwide network of food banks provides programs year-round that address the needs of 46 million people in the United States experiencing hunger, Fraser says. For more information on how you can volunteer at a Feeding America effort in your local area, visit here .

Donate

You have options when it comes to donating to address hunger. Perhaps the most apparent option is donating food via food drives and in-person donations to food banks. But another option is supporting nonprofits doing the work to address the issue.

"Our organization, and organizations like ours on the local level, need resources to do the work we do," Dunn says.

To donate to No Kid Hungry's efforts, which includes summer meal programs and classes to help vulnerable families learn cooking skills, visit here . To donate to Feeding America, which operates large-scale programs including summer food programs and in-school distribution of food through its Backpack Program , visit here .

Spread awareness

Text FOOD to 877-877 to find #summermeals sites close to you - then share w' your friends & neighbors! #NoKidHungry pic.twitter.com/UhhIY0zKyK — No Kid Hungry (@nokidhungry) July 12, 2016

Hunger in a national context is often unaddressed, leaving both children and families silenced and underserved due to stigma. Dunn and Fraser both say their organizations' programs to curb summer hunger are highly underutilized — in part because many families in need do not know they exist.

While spreading awareness of the issue in your local community, also share information about efforts to curb it, so those in need can reach the services created to help them. Parents and kids, for example, can easily find free summer meals provided by No Kid Hungry in their neighborhoods by texting FOOD to 877-877.

Fraser also recommends sharing the issue of hunger with children in your life, especially since they are probably encountering it in the classroom.

"When you donate food, tell the kids, 'I'm buying this jar of peanut butter because there are kids down the street who can't afford a jar of peanut butter,'" he says.

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