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A new study on Dallas County impoverished and hungry children follows the recent North Texas Hunger Summit hosted by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson.

The 2011 Beyond ABC annual report by Children’s Medical Center is the most comprehensive review of the quality of life for area children. It reveals that nearly one-third of Dallas County children live in poverty, an astounding number considering the amount of wealth and resources in the county.

The report parallels the North Texas Hunger Summit report that an alarming 192,502 of the 654,263 children in the county live in hunger and poverty.  The report reveals that the Dallas Cowboys Stadium could be filled twice overflowing and still not account for the number of Dallas County children affected.

The report revealed that 18% of Dallas County children has no private or governmental health insurance in 2010 (double that of the nation’s 8%), that 250,000 county children were on Medicaid, and 60,000 county children were on CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program).

Other alarming statistics revealed that there was a 39% increase in child abuse or neglect, and that an average of 20 children dies each year from abuse or neglect in the county.

The report found some other disturbing facts:

• About 28 percent of Dallas County children - more than 183,000 - have inadequate food and poor nutrition. While children are becoming more malnourished here, they also are becoming overweight. One-third of high school students are estimated to be overweight or obese.
• This year, seven out of every 10 children in public schools are eligible for free- and reduced-price meals, a substantial increase since 2000.
• In 2010, more than 45 percent of babies born in Dallas County were born to mothers who had received inadequate prenatal care. However, the infant mortality rate has been on a consistent decline since 2006.
• More than one-third of Dallas County children were not fully immunized in 2010, according to a National Immunization Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Dallas County has up to 40 days of unhealthy air quality per year, contributing to asthma in children of all income levels, the report found.

As a part of addressing many of the alarming statistics found in the governmental agencies report at the North Texas Hunger Summit, and found in this newly released report, Mayor Mike Rawlings and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson have established a Food Planning Association for Dallas which will access these challenges and work toward solutions.

Appearing on CBS affiliate CBS 11 TV / TXA 21 TV in Dallas early Monday morning, FEED 3 Executive Director Randy Skinner said: “This is a devastating report that continues to show the vast amount of hunger in the DFW area. With over 192,502 children in Dallas County, that number doubles when we include the 10 counties surrounding Dallas, adding in the 140,000 plus for Tarrant County. This is a hunger and poverty crisis."

FEED 3 is a pro-business approach to eradicating hunger by partnering businesses and local schools to feed children (Feed the Body), character programs in inner city schools to increase graduation rates (Feed the Mind), and developing business solutions for poverty that involve churches, non-profits, and community leaders (Feed the Soul).