In a city with vast resources, childhood hunger should not be a challenge to overcome, pediatric medicine specialist Dr. Leslie Rosenthal told Shannan Ferry and Rocco Vertuccio Saturday.

But as many as one in four children in New York faces hunger and food insecurity, according to No Kid Hungry, a national campaign by nonprofit Share Our Strength working to combat hunger and poverty.

“It is really unacceptable that our community is still facing this challenge because there are resources we can connect patients with,” Rosenthal said in an interview with NY1.

Part of the problem is a lack of awareness of available programs and assistance, but hesitancy among parents is also a factor, according to Rosenthal. Immigrants concerned about their status are often nervous about pursuing assistance programs or don’t believe they’re eligible.

That’s why Rosenthal, who works at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, is encouraging her fellow pediatricians to talk with their patients about hunger and their access to food. The American Academy of Pediatrics is promoting a two-question screening process called “Hunger Vital Sign” that Rosenthal says is a good way for doctors to gauge children’s exposure to hunger.

The screening process determines patients being at risk for food insecurity if families answer “sometimes true,” or “often true” to either or both of the statements “within the past 12 months we worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more,” and “within the past 12 months the food we bought just didn’t last and we didn’t have money to get more.”

Some kids living with hunger will show signs of developmental delays, have difficulty fighting off infections, and struggle with energy and focus, Rosenthal said. But hunger may be hard to detect in many children who don’t show any outward signs.

“Hunger can present with no sign at all and that’s why I think it’s so important that pediatricians like myself are screening for things like hunger,” Rosenthal said. “If you’re a family out there struggling, please know your pediatricians are here to help.”