The impact of food insecurity: Overeating, poor nutrition, childhood trauma
By Nancy Ludwig, MS, RD, LD, Siletz
Tribal Head Start Nutrition
As part of my role as a consultant
nutritionist to Siletz Tribal Head Start, I
offer information for families. This article
explores the impacts of food insecurity,
meaning fear of not being able to get
enough food.
Adult eating behaviors are influenced
by early experiences, including not having
enough food as a child or being called fat
and having food restricted. As a result,
food choices are based on “fear of not
enough” rather than based on needs. As
such, the ripple from it affects us all.
For clarity, the terms food security
and food insecurity are defined below. The
roles of Oregon Food Bank and SNAP are
also discussed.
Whatever the cause, whether it is
financial or emotional, the impact of food
insecurity lasts for a lifetime. When I see an
adult with a tendency to overeat, often there
was a history of childhood food insecurity.
Commonly, children and adults who
are (or were) food insecure are overweight.
Nutrition is not just about getting enough
to eat. Often the foods available from food
pantries fill the belly but are nutrient-poor
(low nutrient density). As such, they do
not support health or fully satisfy, which
leaves the body seeking further nutrition
and a physiologic desire to keep eating.
Most of the focus on the root cause
of food insecurity is economic, such as
poverty, unemployment or health-related
financial pressures. However, food inse-
curity is not limited to financial matters.
2018 Tribal Council Application
Application for names to be placed on the 2018 ballot for
candidates in the Siletz Tribal Council election
Name: _______________________________________ Roll# _________________
In some cases, well-intended con-
cerns around a child’s rapid growth (or
weight gain) result in comments around
withholding food. When a child is faced
with food restrictions, a similar insecurity
is experienced and often results in the ten-
dency to eat when food is available rather
than eating to satisfy hunger.
Likewise, foster children, who are
removed from their homes, are often inse-
cure around food and may eat more than
required at a meal as they may not be con-
fident that meals will be available regularly.
Childhood food insecurity can be
viewed as a form of childhood trauma.
There is a great deal of research around
ACE (adverse childhood experiences) as
well as Tribal trauma that are associated
with lifelong poor health.
Head Start families facing food inse-
curity may want to contact their child’s
teacher or family advocate who may be
able to support by helping to connect
them to services. Furthermore, as the
Head Start consultant nutritionist, I am
available to support families by discussing
nutrition-related concerns via telephone.
Food insecurity is a large issue facing
entire communities.
Mailing Address: ___________________________________________________
City: ________________________ State: ________________ ZIP: _____________
Telephone: ________________________________________________________
Food security for a household means
access by all members at all times to
enough food for an active, healthy life.
Food security includes at a minimum:
ing food for today, it’s about providing food
for tomorrow and food for all.
The mission of Oregon Food Bank
is to eliminate hunger and its root causes
… because no one should be hungry.
Despite the improving economy, lower
unemployment rates and better access to
health care, many families still struggle to
put food on the table:
•
•
•
Oregon’s food insecurity rate contin-
ues to remain above the national average.
For Oregon households, 16.1 percent are
considered food insecure according to the
USDA ERS 2014 Food Insecurity Report.
The national average is 14.3 percent.
Check out the following links for more
information from Oregon Food Bank:
•
•
Email Address: ____________________________________________________
I understand I must be an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians of Oregon and 18 years of age or older. This application must be
filed with the Election Board by 4 p.m. on Dec. 15, 2017. I also understand that
if for any reason I decide to withdraw my application for Siletz Tribal Council, I
must withdraw in writing by 4 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2017. Otherwise, my name will
appear in the Voter’s Pamphlet and on the ballot.
Signature: _____________________________________Date:________________
Mail your application to: CTSI Election Board, P.O. Box 549, Siletz, OR
97380-0549.
Voter’s Pamphlet and Statement
If you would like your candidate’s statement and photo to appear in the Voter’s
Pamphlet, please submit your statement and a recent 3x5 photograph of your-
self along with your application. Deadline for statements and photos is 4 p.m.
Dec. 15, 2017.
Candidate statements must be no longer than 750 words and must not be
derogatory or contain personal attacks on any one individual. Statements and
photos will appear in the Voter’s Pamphlet. Photos will be included on the ballot.
Mail your statement and photo to CTSI Election Board, P.O. Box 549, Siletz, OR
97380-0549.
The candidate is responsible to ensure receipt of application and statement
by the deadline. Letters will be sent to all candidates after review and certification
by the Election Board.
Candidates can call 800-922-1399, ext. 1256, or 541-444-8256; or e-mail
elections@ctsi.nsn.us to confirm receipt of application and candidate’s statement.
Election Deadlines
8
4 p.m.
4 p.m.
Dec. 15, 2017
Dec. 15, 2017
4 p.m.
Week of Dec. 26-29, 2017
Dec. 22, 2017
9 a.m. – Noon
4 p.m.
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
TBA
Jan. 26, 2018
Feb. 3, 2018
4 p.m.
Feb. 3, 2018
•
Siletz News
•
Deadline to file for candidacy
Deadline to submit a photo and/or
candidate’s statement for inclusion
in the Tribal Voter’s Pamphlet
Certified Candidate’s List posted
Absentee ballots mailed out/Voter’s
Pamphlet
Candidates Fair – Chinook Winds
Deadline to request a mail-in ballot
In-person Voting – Tribal Elections,
Tribal Community Center, Siletz
Deadline for returning absentee ballots
November 2017
1. The ready availability of nutritionally
adequate and safe foods
2. Assured ability to acquire acceptable
foods in socially acceptable ways (that
is, without resorting to emergency
food supplies, scavenging, stealing or
other coping strategies).
Food insecurity is the limited or
uncertain availability of nutritionally
adequate and safe foods or limited or
uncertain ability to acquire acceptable
foods in socially acceptable ways.
(Definitions are from the Life Sciences
Research Office, S.A. Andersen, ed., Core
Indicators of Nutritional State for Difficult
to Sample Populations, The Journal of
Nutrition; 120:1557S-1600S, 1990.)
The Oregon Food Bank (OFB) is a
statewide network that supplies food to
local distribution centers and pantries.
OFB is unique nationally because it looks
seriously at the root causes of hunger and
identifies factors in order to tackle them
head-on because it’s more than just provid-
28 percent worry always or often about
where their next meal is coming from
82 percent report that there have been
times in the last 12 months when they
did not have enough money to buy
food that they or their family needed
38 percent of households reported
watering down food or drinks to
make them last longer, 31 percent of
households with kids report cutting
kids’ meals
oregonfoodbank.org/our-work/hun-
ger-in-oregon/factors-of-hunger/
oregonfoodbank.org/wp-content/
uploads/2016/05/Hunger-Factors-
FullRpt-v8-2.pdf
SNAP or the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (formerly known as
food stamps) is a federal program that
provides assistance to eligible low-income
people nationwide. By improving the
purchasing power of participants, SNAP
can help alleviate the need to access food
through the charitable network.
According to the most recent informa-
tion available, an estimated 73 percent of
all Oregonians eligible for SNAP receive
benefits. (Source: 2013-14 Participa-
tion Report SNAP: Supporting Health-
ier Oregonians, Partners for a Hunger
Free Oregon; https://oregonhunger.org/
blog/2013-14-snap-participation-report)
Food insecurity is at the root of many
health problems and eating behaviors.
This issue is greater than OFB and SNAP
resources can fully address. We all need
to work together to support food security
for our community.
Attention Siletz Contract Health-eligible
Tribal members!
If you receive Contract Health Services approval to see providers/facilities
outside of a Tribal clinic, please be sure to inform them at your visit that you have
Contract Health Services as a form of payment.
We have seen a number of patients billed for services from their medical/
dental/optical providers because the patient did not inform the office that they
have Contract Health Services.
If you have primary insurance (through employment, Medicare, Medicaid,
etc.), we would be secondary to the primary insurance.
If you fail to provide this information to your providers and they don’t bill us
in a timely manner, you could be liable for the charges. Please let your providers
know that they can submit claims for payment to Siletz Contract Health, P.O. Box
320, Siletz, OR 97380.