Food Assistance Through the School System

Abstract

Numerous public and private initiatives in the United States work to mitigate food insecurity and its unwelcome repercussions for children's health and well-being. An increasingly popular program, the Food For Kids program originated by the Arkansas Rice Depot, seeks to reduce hunger among school-aged children by distributing ready-to-eat food in backpacks for participating students to take home for evening and weekend meals. This study assesses reasons for participation in the program and its impact on school-level indicators of student behavior and academic performance. Sample statistics from unique surveys made available by the Arkansas Rice Depot, a faith-based food bank, indicate that some parents cannot or do not properly feed their children due to insufficient economic means, illness, drug addiction, or a lack of willingness. The analysis also finds improvements in participating students' self-esteem and behavior at school. Additional results from fixed effects regressions using school report-card data indicate a positive and significant program impact on eighth-grade standardized test scores in math and literacy.

The Daily Life and Reality Behind Child Poverty in Sweden: Children’s and Adolescents’ Voices

“…The importance of providing meals for children at school has also been stressed in research outside the Nordic context. American research, for example, has shown that poor children benefit from food programmes, because such programmes have positive outcomes in relation to children's health status as well as academic achievement (Ashiabi 2005;Rodgers and Milewska 2007).…”

Household Food Insecurity: Serious Concerns for Child Development

“…The program evolved from a concept developed by a school nurse in Arkansas who noted that students would come to her with stomachaches due to hunger. In 1995, the Arkansas Rice Depot's Food For Kids backpack program was developed and several other similar programs have since developed (Rodgers & Milewska, 2007). In 2006, the BackPack Program became an official national program of the Feeding America Network.…”

‘Breaking Barriers, Breaking Bread’: Pilot study to evaluate acceptability of a school breakfast program utilising donated food

“…This places the children at an increased risk for nutritional deficiencies as well as adversely impacts their academic achievement . Children most at risk of arriving at school without having had breakfast are often from lower socioeconomic families who experience food insecurity, and are further disadvantaged through a higher risk of poor behavioural and cognitive outcomes at school …”

“…2,4,5 Children most at risk of arriving at school without having had breakfast are often from lower socioeconomic families who experience food insecurity, 1,2,4 and are further disadvantaged through a higher risk of poor behavioural and cognitive outcomes at school. 6 School breakfast programs are known to be beneficial for children's behavioural and cognitive learning 4 because of the increased provision of essential nutrients and the experiential nature of the programs, which aids in food skill and knowledge development. 7 However, while there are significant benefits associated with school breakfast programs, they may impact negatively on the environment.…”