A report from UCLA blames California's growing hunger problem on unemployment; low household wages; the high cost of housing, health care and child care; and low participation in such federally funded food programs as food stamps.

An estimated 166,000 Valley adults were considered at risk of going hungry in 2003, about 10 percent of the Valley's entire population and more than one-third of its low-income adults.

The report by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found a similar spike across the Golden State, where hunger among low-income adults grew by an average 15 percent as residents skipped meals to pay rent and other living costs.

"It certainly calls for corrective action," said study author Gail Harrison, a professor of community health science at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. "People in California should not go hungry or forgo basic needs like medical care, or paying the rent on time in order to buy food."

Go Hungry or Sacrifice Basics

While hunger rates across the nation remained constant, Californians suffered a steep rise in hunger pangs. Los Angeles County saw an 8 percent increase in its population at risk of going hungry, which swelled to 957,000. Counties with the highest rates included Kern, Tulare, Shasta and San Joaquin.

The report, released on National Hunger Awareness Day today, did not explain the variances between different areas of the state. But it generally blamed the rise in hunger on unemployment; low household wages; the high cost of housing, health care and child care; and low participation in such federally funded food programs as food stamps.

The study found that 2.9 million poor adults in California either experienced hunger or sacrificed basics to eat in 2003, up from 2.5 million in 2001.

The report makes a distinction between what it calls food insecurity, or being at risk of going hungry, and hunger, in which adults actually complained of being hungry or missing meals on several occasions.

While food insecurity was most likely among Latinos (38.2 percent of low-income adults), followed by blacks (37.3 percent), hunger was most likely among blacks (13.8 percent), followed by whites (12.1 percent).

'Hunger-Free Zone'

"The hunger issue is swept under the carpet," said the Rev. Bob Bonnot, chairman of the board for the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council, which operates food pantries, Meals on Wheels and adult-care centers.

"In our day and age, in this country, in this state, with the biggest food production in the world, to have people uncertain about getting enough food is absurd."

For this reason, VIC launched a campaign this year to make the Valley a "hunger-free zone" by 2020 through the support of local businesses and residents.

Harrison said the effects of widespread hunger include an increase in the risk of illness, complications from diseases such as diabetes and poor performance in school.

Among the report's findings:

Low-income adults were considered those living below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or a family of four earning less than $37,320 a year.

Food Banks Seeing More Hunger

Those at risk join a growing number of residents who seek an extra roll, jar of peanut butter and other grub from food banks to augment meager incomes.

As part of National Hunger Awareness Day, many agencies are collecting food. For instance, The Laugh Factory in Hollywood will open its doors for 24 hours to collect and give away food.

Will Hernandez, director of the Valley Food Bank, said that since last year, those needing food have almost tripled, from about 50 families a week to 185 families a week.

"Definitely more hunger," said Jeanne Bain, co-director of the West Valley Food Pantry, who has given away food to poor residents for 20 years. "Many seniors who have been living on the edge, and I mean the real raw edge.

"And we have seen a large increase in the working poor, people who work two and three jobs and still struggle to pay the rent."

Four months ago, David Boggs got laid off from a printing job at a retail sports store and ended up losing his two-bedroom apartment in Northridge.

Since then, he's been struggling to pay up to $340 a week for a decent motel room.

"It just sucks my paycheck," said Boggs, 48, a native of Glendale who dropped by the West Valley Food Pantry for enough grub to supplement his income as a bicycle mechanic. "Right now, I'm basically motel hopping, getting back on my feet.

"Thank God for the food bank."

-- Dana Bartholomew