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Comment by pier25 | Hacker News Reader

I'm not from the US and I've never lived there, but from what you're describing (except point 4) it seems like stress is one of the fundamental values in the US society. Stuff like not having public healthcare, exorbitant college costs, being fired at any moment, etc. It seems like kids are taught that early on with the stuff you're mentioning through the imposition of cultural values, rules, etc.

I'm from Europe but I grew up and have lived in different cultures/countries which have a much more relaxed attitude towards life. Reading your comment actually made me anxious.

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A lot of these anxieties are psychologically self imposed and a cultural failing that focuses on materialism. In the US, you are considered a failure if you don't own your own mansion by European standards and achieve a high degree of professional success. Essentially being compared to a standard that only 1% of people will ever achieve.

1 in 5 American children are food insecure.

I think the problem is bigger than materialism.

This number looks a lot scarier than it is. Food "insecurity" is an arbitrary threshold based largely on how people feel. Based on the same data, children very rarely go hungry in America.

0.6% of children skipped a single meal in a 12 month period. 0.9% of children got hungry at least once in a 12 month period.

alternatively, you and your children are considered insecure if in a 12 month period they answer yes to the following:

A parent lost weight

Adult(s) cut size or skipped meals in 3 or more months

Relied on few kinds of low-cost food to feed child(ren)

Here is the actual USDA survey data that supports that fact:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10995-021-03320-2

more background:

https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/fo...

https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/313486/

I still think all of those scenarios are pretty scary. Especially for the child(ren).

You know when your family is poor. Children share that mental and emotional burden, and it will follow them through life.

The kinds of food they eat will, in the majority of cases, lead to obesity and diabetes.

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