The United States pays more than $90 billion annually for
hunger-related charities, illness, psychosocial dysfunction and lower
productivity.

On average, each person residing in the United States pays $300
annually to combat hunger -- on a household basis, it means that the
annual cost is closer to $800 each year, according to the study by
Sodexho Foundation and researchers affiliated with Harvard University
School of Public Health, Brandeis University and Loyola University.

The researchers also calculated that on a lifetime basis, each individual's bill for hunger in the nation is nearly $22,000.

The study found that the lion's share of the overall cost, $66.8
billion, resulted from illness associated with hunger, said Brandeis
health economist Donald Shepard, who led the economic analysis. These
illnesses included: iron deficiency, colds, depression and other causes.

"What was unusual about hunger was the wide range of problems
associated with it, which included not only the illness burden, but
also expenses on food pantries and other charities to mitigate the
problem, and lost productivity due to hunger's adverse impact on
learning," Shepard said in a statement.