What’s the Summer Hunger Crisis?
More than 21 million students in the U.S. receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year. But when school ends, hunger starts for millions. That’s because only 15% of children have access to summer food programs, leaving 18 million kids hungry during summer break.
How Does the Summer Hunger Crisis Affect Kids in Our Area?
In Middle Tennessee, 108,000 children are food insecure, which means they don’t know, at times, where their next meal will come from. In Williamson County, that number is at least 3,600, and is likely higher than 6,000.
These students depend on school meal programs for a significant portion of their calorie and nutrition intake. When school cafeterias close, low-income families cannot afford to replace those meals. And the health consequences are heartbreaking.
Why Can’t Kids Eat at Home During the Summer?
Parents struggle to afford food. Low-income families rely heavily on school meal programs. And while parents try to provide enough food for their children during the summer—spending an average of $424 more on groceries—they struggle to fill the gap. They simply don’t have room in their budgets to make up for the loss of school meals.
Parents have to make trade-offs. Sixty-nine percent of low-income families will choose between paying for food or utilities during the summer.
Parents cannot afford healthy options. They opt for processed food because it’s cheap, and it’s the only way to keep their kids full. But processed food lacks the protein, vitamins, and nutrients growing brains and bodies need, which can lead to serious health problems and malnourishment.
How Does Summer Hunger Affect a Child’s Health?
The inexpensive and highly processed food that low-income parents can afford, as well as a lack of food in general, lead to several short- and long-term health affects for kids.
Weight Gain. During the summer, low-income children gain weight 2-3 times faster than more affluent children. This seems counterintuitive, but it’s the result of their carb-heavy, processed food diet. It’s calorie-rich, but it’s not nourishing, which leaves children feeling constantly hungry and reaching for more empty calories.
Cognitive Decline. A lack of fruits, vegetables, and proteins means children aren’t getting the vitamins and nutrients they need for their brains to develop properly. This can lead to learning issues and mental health problems like depression and anxiety.
Summer Learning Loss. Children from food-insecure families show the same cognitive growth as their more affluent counterparts during the school year. But over the summer, they experience a cognitive decline that puts them at a disadvantage the following year and leads to lower grades.
Chronic Diseases. Poor summer nutrition leads to obesity and malnourishment, which cause a host of chronic health problems, from diabetes to heart disease.
Higher Hospitalization Rates. Food insecure children are 31% more likely to be hospitalized than their food-secure counterparts.
Lower Graduation Rates. Cognitive decline and summer learning loss create a snowball effect: Each year, food-insecure students fall further behind in school, which makes it less likely that they’ll graduate.
Why Happens When You End Summer Hunger for a Child?
Studies show that healthy summer meals can literally reverse all of the issues we just covered above, leading to:
- Less Chronic Disease
- Sharper, Healthier Minds
- Less Summer Learning Loss
- Higher Graduation Rates
- Lower Chance of Hospitalization
How Can You End Summer Hunger in Williamson County?
You can donate to our food pantry today. We provide Neighbors in Williamson County with healthy carts of food that always have six essential ingredients: milk, eggs, butter, protein-rich meats, fruits, and vegetables.
Storing all this perishable food makes our operations more complicated. But it’s absolutely worth it. We want struggling families to get the nutritious food they need to stay healthy and strong.