Hunger Quiz Show

This a c t iv it y reinforces an understanding of the

issues surrounding hunger.
t i m e r e q u i r e d 3 0 to 5 0 m i n u t e s
I n t e n d e d fo r g r a d e s 9 - 1 2

» a sheet of newsprint
Mat er ial s

» a marker
N eed ed

» a roll of masking tape

» a stopwatch
» pens or pencils, one for each participant
» sheets of blank paper

Activity Steps
1 Div id e t he l a r ge gr o up into small groups of five or six. Assign each team a number
or name. Note these numbers or names on a sheet of newsprint and post it where all can see.
This will serve as your scorecard. Invite someone to serve as a timekeeper and give him or her the

2
stopwatch.

T e l l t he t e a m s they will be participating in a quiz show, answering a number of questions

you will pose. Explain that when you have asked each question, the first team to make a buzzer
noise will have 30 seconds to respond with an answer. If their answer is wrong, the other teams
will have an opportunity to answer. Each correct answer is worth five points. If the question
defaults to another team, the correct answer is worth three points. Should the question remain
unanswered, you will then need to provide the correct answer. Make sure everyone understands the
rules, and then proceed with the game using the following questions (answers noted in brackets):
» The world produces enough food for everyone to have 2,500 calories a day. That’s 150 more
than the basic minimum. True or false? [True, if distributed equally.]

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» How many people in the world go hungry each day—8 million, 80 million, more than 800
million? [854 million people in the world go hungry each day.]

» In developing countries, how many children die every year from preventable and treatable
causes—6 million, 16 million, 25 million? [16 million. 60 percent of these deaths are from
hunger and malnutrition.]

» In the United States, how many children live in households where people have to skip meals
or eat less to make ends meet—1 million, 5 million, more than 10 million? [11.7 million.
That means one in 10 households in the United States is living with hunger or is at risk of
hunger.]

» Hunger is worse in rural areas among native people in Latin America than in the cities. True
or false? [True]

» The largest number of poor and hungry people is found where—in Africa or in Asia? [Asia
in terms of sheer numbers, but Africa has a higher proportion of hungry people among its
total population.]

» In Tanzania, over a three-year period, a community-based nutrition program has cut severe
malnutrition in half. True or false? [True]

» If everyone in the world lived as the richest 20 percent do, people would use 10 times as
much fossil fuel and 200 times as many minerals. True or false? [True]

» Which developing country has increased its per capita food consumption (in terms of calo-
ries per day) and has its wealth distributed relatively equally, but is criticized in the interna-
tional community for its lack of respect for human rights? [China]

» A baby born in Shanghai, China now has a better chance of surviving its first year than one
born in New York City. True or false? [True, due to the efforts of China to improve the
health of its people.]

» If farmers around the world would add synthetic fertilizer to their land, they could produce
more food. True or false? [False. Studies show that heavier applications of synthetic fertilizer
have had little effect on increasing yields.]

» List three main causes of hunger. [Possible answers include: lack of food, wages, and shelter;
illness; no access to land or education; war; environmental degradation; weather conditions;
unequal trading; debt.]

» How are environmental problems linked with poverty and hunger? [Very closely. For ex-
ample, deforestation can result in topsoil being blown away, which leads to desertification.
Another example is water pollution, which kills fish and other marine life.]

» What is the difference between famine and chronic hunger? [Famine is relatively sudden and
short-term, is often precipitated by drought or war, causes severe hunger and high death
rates, receives high media attention, and often receives a high level of international response.

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 Chronic hunger is ongoing and long-term; it is sometimes called the “invisible emergency”
because millions more people die every year due to the effects of chronic hunger. But the
issue receives little media and international attention for developing solutions because the
causes are perceived as more complex.]

» List five factors that affect food security. [Possible answers include: land and water, fuel, wa-
ter and sanitation, transportation, jobs, family and culture, research and development, exchange
rates, peaceful conditions, political structures and government policies, education, media.]

» How is poverty linked to hunger? [Poverty is the main cause of hunger. Poverty means lack
of access to proper nutrition, clean water, sanitation, income, and health care. All these fac-
tors contribute to hunger.]

» How does land use affect hunger in developing countries? [In many developing countries,
land is mostly owned by relatively few wealthy and powerful people or by large foreign com-
panies. Land is used to produce crops like coffee, bananas, and cotton for export, because
these crops bring in high prices in international trade.]

3 Add up t he s c o r es and announce a winning team. Then offer the following key points:
» Globally almost 826 million people go each day without the food their bodies need for
healthy development. This chronic undernourishment feeds a never-ending cycle of disease,
stunted growth, delayed development, and poverty.

» The effects of chronic or ongoing hunger are worlds apart from this temporary hunger.
Chronic hunger has far-reaching impacts on individuals and their families and, by extension,
on communities and whole societies.

» Malnutrition is a leading cause of disease and premature death in the developing world.
Those most affected include fetuses, children, and pregnant and nursing women. Their bod-
ies have the extra demands of growth and development—their own, or in the case of moth-
ers and mothers-to-be, their children’s. Over the longer term, malnutrition feeds a vicious
cycle of hunger and poverty.

» It is well established that poverty is a leading cause of hunger. But the reverse is equally true:
Hunger is part of a downward spiral within households that traps families in poverty for
generations.

» Now, for the first time in history, the world has what it takes to end hunger.

4 C o n c l ud e b y no t ing that these facts and figures offer just a glimpse into the issues that
people of the world face in regard to poverty.

(The above activity is drawn from Beat Poverty: We’ve Got What It Takes!: An Educational Resource for
Young People in Grades 9–12. Copyright © 2008 by World Vision Resources, Mail Stop 321, P.O. Box 9716,
Federal Way, WA 98063-9716 wvresources@worldvision.org. All rights reserved.)

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 About World Vision
W o rld V i s i o n i s a Christian relief, development, and advocacy organization dedicated to helping
children and their families break free from poverty. Our work is motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ. We
see a world where each child experiences “fullness of life” as described in John 10:10. And we know this can
be achieved only by addressing the problems of poverty and injustice in a holistic way. That’s how World
Vision is unique: We bring nearly sixty years of experience in three key areas needed to help children and
families thrive: emergency relief, long-term development, and advocacy. And we bring all of our skills across
many areas of expertise to each community we work in, enabling us to care for children’s physical, social,
emotional, and spiritual well-being.

W o rld V i s i o n R es o u r c e s educates Christians about global poverty, inspires them to social justice,
and equips them with innovative resources to make a difference in the world. By developing biblically-based
materials for educators and ministry leaders on the causes and consequences of global poverty, World Vision
Resources supports the organizational mandate to move the church in the United States to more fully embrace
its biblical responsibility to serve the poor.

For more information about

our resources, contact:

World Vision Resources

www.worldvision.org
wvresources@worldvision.org

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