Why are some of our Veterans Going Hungry

Nipa Kamdar, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Houston’s Department of Health and Human Performance, sought to determine what barriers keep veterans from obtaining and eating quality food.

With previous research showing that roughly a quarter of post-9/11 veterans have experienced hunger or food insecurity at some point after their service, Nipa Kamdar, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Houston’s Department of Health and Human Performance, sought to determine what barriers keep veterans from obtaining and eating quality food.

Using a unique approach to qualitative research called photo elicitation, she let the veterans explain their challenges through photographs of objects or situations they felt hindered or helped their access to food.

“This is a problem in this community, but it’s not being fully recognized,” Kamdar said during an interview with Military.com. “I really wanted to understand what was happening in the veteran household and really get the story, rather than just the numbers.”

She was  informed the following:

  1. There is the amount of time it takes to attend medical appointments and take care of kids, along with the high divorce rate, or being single parents
  2. with post-traumatic stress disorder, he has bad days when he cannot cook for his family.

C, It’s on the other members of the family, which includes the kids for that day, to fend for themselves.

While the results have yet to be analyzed or published, Kamdar said she has learned lessons she is now sharing with community food banks and non-profits in the Houston area, where she did most of the research.

D, veterans with jobs and families who also are studying in college can’t get to food banks, which normally are open during the workday.

food insecurity puts children at increased risk for mental health and physical disorders, impaired learning and decreased productivity in school.

What struck her most, she said, was that the children of these families were rarely affected by the food insecurity because the veterans simply went without eating themselves to ensure that their kids were fed.

“They make do with what they have and make sure the kids get what they need. It is just taken for granted that they would skip a meal, wouldn’t eat or eat just once a day,” Kamdar said. “They consider this normal.”

“They didn’t know about how the hours of operation of some of these pantries make it difficult for veterans to make it there,” she said.

Kamdar also stated that that veterans are most at risk for food insecurity in the first three months of their transition from military service, when they are trying to find a job, establish a home and fend for themselves.

In addition, Kamdar said She’d like to see legislation to shorten the time period for veterans to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. It can take 30 days or more to be approved for SNAP but, since an applicant has to show income history to qualify, they must prove they are no longer receiving active-duty pay.

“If we could get them to access it sooner if they qualify … it would increase access,” Kamdar said.

The research was funded by the William T. Grant Foundation, a nonprofit focused on reducing inequality among children and youth. The group was interested in the research, Kamdar said, because food insecurity puts children at increased risk for mental health and physical disorders, impaired learning and decreased productivity in school.

What struck her most, she said, was that the children of these families were rarely affected by the food insecurity because the veterans simply went without eating themselves to ensure that their kids were fed.

“They make do with what they have and make sure the kids get what they need. It is just taken for granted that they would skip a meal, wouldn’t eat or eat just once a day,” Kamdar said. “They consider this normal.”

This article can be found on Military.com  30 May 2019

Military.com | By Patricia Kime

https://www.military.com/daily-news