Hunger Among America's Youth and the BackPack Program

The Scope of Food Insecurity in America

If you've never had to skip a meal because you didn't have money to buy food, consider yourself lucky. Hunger among America's youth is a complex and multifaceted problem — and a growing challenge for many American families. Food insecurity, defined as the lack of consistent access to enough food for a healthy and active life, affects a wide range of American families. These families may be able to purchase food, but it simply doesn't last and they don't have enough money to buy more. They may not be able to afford balanced meals. Meals may be skipped or cut back because the family didn't have enough money, or family members may have been hungry but didn't eat because there was no food available ("Clients: Food Insecurity"). This growing problem affects too many of America's youth. Even those who are not directly affected by hunger are indirectly affected by its consequences.

There are two classifications of hunger in American households: very low food security and low food security. Families "with very low food security have had one or more members experience reductions in food intake or disruptions in eating patterns due to a lack of adequate resources for food. Households with low food security, while faced with food-access problems, typically do not experience incidents of reduced food intake" ("Clients: Food Insecurity"). The statistics regarding poverty and hunger are deeply disturbing.

In 2009, 43.6 million people were living in poverty — 14.3% of the American population. Of those, 15.5 million were under the age of 18, representing approximately 20.7% of all children in America. More than 50 million Americans lived in food-insecure households that year, with 17.2 million of them being children — 14.7% of the total population. Furthermore, 6.8 million families fell into the very low food security category, meaning one or more family members reduced their food intake because they could not afford to eat. In that same year, "households with children reported food insecurity at almost double the rate for those without children" ("Hunger and Poverty Statistics").

In 2006, Feeding America — a nationwide network of food banks and food pantries — was feeding 25 million Americans, including nine million children. By 2009, that number had increased by 46% overall. Feeding America fed 37 million Americans in 2009, including 14 million children — a greater than 50% increase in the number of hungry children the organization was serving. This means that approximately one in eight Americans relied on Feeding America's network for food and groceries ("Hunger Report 2010"). The organization subsequently fed approximately 5.7 million people each week, a 27% increase over 2006 figures, equating to one million more people served per week ("Hunger Report 2010: Key Findings").

The Feeding America Hunger and Poverty Statistics report indicates that these numbers were further shaped by household composition. Households headed by single parents were especially likely to experience food insecurity. Thirty-six percent of families with single women as head of household reported food insecurity, and twenty-eight percent of families with single men as head of household reported the same. Research has also documented a relationship between race and hunger: 24.9% of Black households reported food insecurity, as did 26.9% of Hispanic households ("Hunger and Poverty Statistics").

Nearly five percent of all American families accessed emergency food from a local food pantry one or more times in 2009. Families classified as low or very low food security were 15 times more likely to access food through a food pantry and 19 times more likely to have eaten a meal at an emergency kitchen. Fifty-seven percent of food-insecure families in 2009 participated in at least one of the three primary federal food assistance programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the National School Lunch Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Five states had a statistically higher incidence of food insecurity:

Who Is Most Vulnerable: Demographics of Hunger

Arkansas — 17.7% of households
Texas — 17.4% of households
Mississippi — 17.1% of households
Georgia — 15.6% of households
North Carolina — 14.8% of households ("Hunger and Poverty Statistics")

To understand the indirect effects of childhood hunger on society, one must first understand how hunger affects children directly. Children who suffer from hunger experience both physical and mental consequences. Children with an inadequate food supply are two to four times more likely to suffer from a variety of health problems, including fatigue, headaches, irritability, the inability to concentrate, frequent colds, and unwanted weight loss. Hungry children are more likely to become ill and therefore miss more school than their well-fed peers.

Children with food insecurity often suffer from iron-deficiency anemia, which can lead to both behavioral and developmental problems. In school-aged children, these problems can impair the ability to perform well in core academic subjects, including mathematics and reading. These children are often less social and interact less with their environment, further interfering with their educational experience. Hungry children cannot concentrate as well as their well-fed peers on schoolwork, which negatively affects their ability to learn basic skills, resulting in lower standardized test scores, increased tardiness, and increased absenteeism — all of which compound the original problem.

Food insecurity also has a significant mental effect on children, producing anxiety about food and negative feelings about self-worth, which further increases educational difficulties ("Health Consequences"). Ensuring that all children have the best education possible carries numerous societal benefits that extend far beyond the individual child or family.

How Hunger Affects Children's Health and Education

Even if you've never experienced hunger personally, the increasing number of America's youth going hungry has a significant negative effect on society as a whole, indirectly affecting everyone. Research has shown that higher education levels lead to higher earnings. Because so many of today's hungry children live in low-income families, ensuring they receive the best education possible can help break the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger. As it stands, hungry children perform poorly in school compared to their peers, which leads to higher dropout rates and a reduced likelihood of attending college. Children who suffer from hunger today are more likely to experience poverty as adults, and to raise children of their own who also go hungry.

These future taxpayers represent an increased burden on society — relying more heavily on public assistance and contributing less in taxes over the course of their lifetimes. Watts argues that as education levels rise, people develop a greater capacity to serve the public sector and contribute to the public good, with a decreased reliance on public assistance programs.

Higher education levels are also positively associated with lower rates of criminal behavior. "Crime imposes a variety of costs on society. These costs can be seen directly through the public sector's expenditures on prisons, and indirectly through the cost of private deterrence. Many of these costs are difficult to quantify, but one study estimates the national cost of crime to exceed $1 trillion" (Watts). Hungry children who perform poorly in school are more likely to commit criminal acts — both now and in the future — resulting in increased costs to society. Better-educated members of society are also more likely to be engaged in civic life, with greater involvement in community organizations, producing stronger social cohesion (Watts). When children go hungry today, their educational future is jeopardized, creating a cascading array of negative effects for everyone in society.

Several programs currently exist to help families alleviate hunger for their children. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). As the largest food assistance program in the country, SNAP has provided monthly assistance to low-income families for the purchase of food ("SNAP"). However, the modest benefits the program offers often are not enough, particularly when participants want to purchase fresh produce and meats for a healthier diet rather than less expensive pre-packaged foods.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a specialized food assistance program geared toward pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and young children. Also administered through the USDA and in operation since 1974, WIC served 6.9 million infants and children in 2009 ("WIC"). However, this program also provides limited benefits and restricts participants to specific approved items.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) offers free and reduced-price lunches through participating schools. More than 19 million children received free or reduced-price lunches through the NSLP during the 2008–2009 school year. All schools are eligible to participate, and participating schools "also receive agricultural commodities (unprocessed or partially processed foods) as a supplement to the per-meal cash reimbursements, in amounts based on the number of lunches they serve" ("National School Lunch"). Although this program helps ensure school-aged children receive at least one meal each day, it does not provide food for other meals, on weekends, or during school holidays, including summer break.