9/10/2024 –
We can help ensure our pediatric patients have adequate nutrition to thrive
It’s Monday at 1 a.m., and a 10-year-old girl comes back from her appendectomy, begging for a snack. After working her way through sips of juice, I grab her a small bowl of cereal. As she scarfs it down, I say, “You must be so hungry since you couldn’t eat before surgery!”
“I haven’t eaten since school on Friday,” she replies.
“You couldn’t keep food down since Friday?” I ask.
“No, I just don’t usually get to eat on the weekends.”
Unfortunately, this was an all-too-common encounter for me (Bowers), as a pediatric nurse.
Across the country, thousands of children walk into hospitals and clinics every day. Pediatricians meticulously probe, test, and diagnose, yet a silent, devastating condition often goes unnoticed: hunger. This invisible crisis hides in plain sight, undermining the health and futures of our youngest patients. It’s time for pediatricians to expose this hidden epidemic and ensure no child’s cry for help is left unheard…
