PubMed · 5603882
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G Pacheco. 1967. [The "hidden hunger"].. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/5603882/
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Ernest H. Starling FRS (1866-1927) is remembered as a great physiologist; nevertheless a paper of his that is of substantial historical interest has dropped out of sight. It is a quantitative analysis of the effects of the Allied food blockade during World War I on the energy available to the German population and of the failure by the German government to distribute the available energy fairly. He shows that by 1919 a substantial proportion of the urban Germans were starving. His data are summarized in this article. Starling concluded that empty stomachs were a major reason for the German capitulation. His analysis grew out of his work as the second chairman of the Food [War] Committee of The Royal Society and as one of the two British members of the International Scientific Food Commission, pioneering bodies in using science to help to set public policy.
Patients at a New York City municipal hospital were surveyed in 1985 and 1989 to ascertain the extent of hunger and its possible correlates. Twenty-two percent (22%) of the 382 subjects in 1985 and 23% of the 332 subjects in 1989 experienced hunger. Hunger was related significantly to homelessness, social isolation and the physical inability to buy and/or prepare food. Between 1985 and 1989, there was a large increase in the use of institutional resources for food; a decline in reliance on Food Stamps; and an increase in household density. Inpatients were found to be poorer than outpatients, and to rely more heavily upon soup kitchens. Practice, policy and research implications are noted.