The Impact of Hunger on K-12 Education
Food impacts many aspects of life, and one of the most significant effects food (or lack thereof) has is on education.
Students who are inadequately fed don’t have the same learning capacity as those with a balanced and fruitful diet. In 2021, the USDA estimated that 10.2% of American students were “food insecure.” Plus, 3.8% (or 5.1 million households) experienced very low food security.
Brain Development
The first issue students deal with when facing food scarcity is that their brains don’t develop at optimal levels. Brain development begins soon after conception and determines a person’s functional ability, including social behavior, language development, decision-making skills, learning, and cognition.
A 2016 study shows that undernutrition, including calorie deprivation and poor dietary diversity, contributed to diminished brain growth over the first four years of life for children, while malnutrition in childhood can also affect a person in adult life.