Some 13 million American children aren't just hungry. They're suffering from real hunger. Real hunger is painful and can leave kids lightheaded and lethargic. When their brains aren't fueled, they're not ready to learn. They're kids like the boy who boasted one day to the cooks at his elementary school that his sister is the "best cook ever" because she made ketchup soup for him the night before.
One in six children in America suffers from real hunger. These kids live in every state and every county in the nation. Virginia is home to 249,170 hungry children, including 23,650 in Fairfax County.
School Nutrition Association President Gay Anderson, the child nutrition director for Brandon Valley Schools in South Dakota, said the story of the child who liked his sister's ketchup soup concoction isn't as isolated as some might believe. Similar — or worse — stories are told every day in America, in every city, she said.
"We're talking about really hungry kids — the ones who look forward to getting that backpack of food to take home for the weekend," Anderson said. "I've heard many times, 'Oh my gosh, look what we get,' and seen the excitement in knowing they're going to have some food to eat."
Many schools offer backpack programs to provide students with nutritious, non-perishable and easy-to-prepare meals on weekends and holidays when they can't depend on the school lunch programs. Even with these emergency food supplies, kids often come back with gnawing hunger on Monday, when schools go through more food than on any other day of the week, Anderson said.
"A couple of years ago, the mom of three boys called me on Monday morning and said, 'I don't have money to feed my kids,' " Anderson said, explaining the woman had taken her boys with her to the grocery store and showed them $1.91 and said, "This is all we have. What are we going to eat?"
Anderson said it's not uncommon for food-insecure students in her home district and others across the country to slip apples, bananas and whatever they can into their pockets at lunch so they can help out their families at meal time. Older siblings sometimes skip meals or short-shrift their servings so the little ones can eat. Parents may not eat at all for a day or days so their children have food.
"In households across the country, parents often work to shield their children from the fact there isn't enough food," said Christina Martinez, the child-nutrition manager for Feeding America, which provides food through a nationwide network of food banks. "But kids are really perceptive, and really do pick up on it."
Said Anderson: "We can see it in their eyes, wondering, 'What am I going to eat? When am I going to eat?' They have that fearful look."
Children Of Working Parents
Stereotypes abound about these hungry children. Some are homeless, but most of them aren't, said Martinez, adding: "In the majority of cases, they're going home with their brothers and sisters."
And in many cases, these hungry kids are the children of working parents.
While 13 million U.S. children are considered food insecure, even more families are "a $500 car repair or a broken arm away from food insecurity," said Erica Olmstead, a field manager for No Kid Hungry, a project of Share Our Strength, a nonprofit group that works to ease hunger and poverty worldwide.
In a 2017 report, nearly two-thirds of low-income parents said a single, unplanned expense of $1,500 would make it difficult for them to feed their children. Among respondents, 92 percent were working families — that is, at least one adult in the household worked full-time, part-time or multiple jobs. Among other findings:
* 62 percent worried that food would run out faster than money to pay for it came in.
* 59 percent said the food they bought didn't last and there wasn't money for more.
* 23 percent said they had limited the size of a child's meal because there wasn't enough money for food.
"Honestly," Olmstead said, "that's unacceptable."
'Hangry' Is Real
The problem isn't just that these nearly 13 million American kids are hungry.
Published research shows that children in families who don't know where their next meal is coming from are more likely than kids who have enough nutritious food to eat to have lower test scores and overall academic achievement. Hungry kids are more likely to skip school, have to repeat a grade or not finish school at all, limiting their chances of getting a good job. They're also more likely to suffer chronic health conditions such as anemia and asthma, require hospitalization and suffer oral health problems.
Hungry kids also are prone to fighting, hyperactivity, aggression, anxiety, mood swings and bullying.
" 'Hangry' is a real thing. Kids who are food insecure and hungry are more likely to act out, be discipline problems and find it harder to concentrate when a basic need isn't being met," said Annelise Cohon, who leads the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom program for the NEA Foundation, the National Education Association's public charity. "The impact of hunger can be felt throughout the life cycle for a student."
Said Anderson of the School Nutrition Association: "We've got to nip childhood hunger. They're our future. We're feeding the future, and we do need to help them see where their next meal is coming from so they can learn and be prepared and ready to succeed."
How You Can Help Ease Childhood Hunger
Childhood hunger is "a completely solvable and fixable problem," said Feeding America's Martinez. "We don't have to live with this."
The easiest way to help is to donate to local food banks. In Fairfax County, reach out to the Capital Area Food Bank. It's one of 200 food banks across the country that work with 60,000 local agencies, from food pantries to soup kitchens, to make sure everyone has enough healthy food to eat.
Help can be offered in a variety of ways — by giving money or donating time to sort food and snack packs, assemble food boxes or help with distribution. People who work in the food industry can also work with their employers to provide direct donations.
Also, Martinez said, start a conversation in your community to determine if enough resources are being allocated to combat childhood hunger. "If you give food banks resources, they will expand the program," she said.
Some programs are more targeted to specific needs.
One of the big ones is Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom, a national initiative also supported by the Food Research and Action Center, the National Association of Elementary School Principals Foundation and School Nutrition Association. The program aims to make breakfast available to every child, regardless of income level, and serve it in the classroom after the opening bell.
Federally funded school breakfast programs are generally available for low-income children in U.S. schools, but Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom has awarded grants that currently serve more than 100,000 children in about 80 school districts in 27 states. Partner organizations have served breakfast to 14.4 million children, the majority of them from low-income families, since 2010.
Programs like Breakfast in the Classroom, Super Snack and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program are available at certain Fairfax County schools. Here's information on how to start a Breakfast in the Classroom program. Programs like Summer F.E.E.D.S. (Food for Every Child to Eat During Summer) are offered to students throughout Fairfax County.
Bringing breakfast from the cafeteria to the classroom reduces some of the stigma of taking part in government-funded meal programs, particularly among middle or high school students. Currently, only about 56 percent of students who rely on free or reduced-price lunches are participating in school breakfast programs.
"They don't want to be seen as that kid who is different," Cohon said. "No one feels singled out or different."
Another great way to help is to start a school backpack program in your local school district. Here's how.
"We all need to look deep in our hearts: What can I do as a volunteer to pack backpacks, or time or a donation?" Anderson of the School Nutrition Association said. "We in America have always believed we want to help each other out and be successful.
"You and I may say we're hungry, but we know where our next meal is coming from. Not all of our kids do. And we don't know what those hunger pains feel like from the eyes of a child."
