It’s Hard to Learn if You’re Hungry

As Americans prepare for the annual gluttony that accompanies Thanksgiving, it’s hard to believe that far too many children in this country are going hungry. More than 12 million American children live in low-income families that sometimes can’t afford to buy enough food to feed them. That’s a grim reality that threatens these children’s development, health, learning, and longer term prospects. It’s also something that’s totally within our power to stop. Federal programs have played an important role in reducing childhood hunger: For example, the federal school lunch programs provide free and reduced-price meals to more than 30 million children annually. The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program provides free milk, cheese, cereal, and other foods to pregnant women, babies, and toddlers. But both of these programs have their flaws, and fall short of meeting the full need.

During the 2008 campaign, President-elect Obama pledged to end child hunged in the United States by 2015. In a new paper for the Progressive Policy Institute, Joel Berg and Tom Freedman offer the new administration recommendations for how to reach that goal:

1. Provide all children with a free school breakfast.
2. Improve program efficiency and accountability.
3. Support working families.
4. Reward best practices in the states.
5. Provide real ammo to the armies of compassion.

Other early childhood interventions, such as quality childcare and pre-k programs, can play a role in reducing child hunger, by providing breakfast and lunch to children they serve; helping connect families with other social services and resources that can help meet their food needs; and teaching children and parents about proper nutrition. In a country as rich as ours, it’s shameful that we even need to worry about child hunger, but the sad truth is that it’s a real problem we can’t afford to ignore. Fortunately, there are smart steps we can take to reduce hunger, improve children’s health, and ensure that children’s rumbling tummies don’t get in the way of their learning.