The current pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is also responsible for a surge in hunger among children nationwide, according to the Brookings Institute. An analysis of the COVID Impact Survey done by the institute stated that “Nearly 23 percent of households said they lacked the money to get enough food, compared with about 16 percent at the worst of the Great Recession.”
“I documented new evidence from two nationally representative surveys that were initiated to provide up-to-date estimates of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the incidence of food insecurity,” Brookings researcher Lauren Bauer mentioned in her report. “Food insecurity occurs when a household has difficulty providing enough food due to a lack of resources.”
Although COVID-19 made hunger among young children worse in the U.S., many children already struggled with food insecurity before the pandemic hit. An estimated 37.2 million American households battled food insecurity, of those 11.2 million are children. Programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are not enough for families to feed their children unless the government will expand the program by approximately 15 percent, the Brookings Institute proposed.
The same goes for the stimulus package many families received. The extra $500 per child is not enough.
“Food insecurity represents an urgent matter for policymakers in the capitol and in statehouses across the country,” Bauer wrote. “Food security programs, centrally SNAP, and Pandemic-EBT must be strengthened and expanded immediately.”
In April 2020, the non-profit organization Feeding America alerted that an estimated 18 million children could be battling hunger during the peak of the pandemic. This is also related to the jump in job losses nationwide which forces households with children especially, to depend on food banks.
Because of schools being closed due to COVID-19, at least one in four children will experience hunger, especially children who come from low-income families.
Food insecurity among children can have long-lasting physical and psychological effects. Chronic conditions such as low bone density, iron-deficiency anemia, as well as asthma are often developed in many children due to food insecurity.
According to the American Psychological Association, food insecurity at home has drastic effects on the development of young children, which includes poor health, greater hospitalizations, as well as behavior problems such as anxiety, aggression, depression, and attention deficit disorder (ADD), as well as developmental risk. In a research study among children of school-age, it was found that there is a significant connection between food insecurity and low school achievements related to academic performance, behavior, and health.
“Policymakers must act to protect the health and well-being of the American people, especially children,” Bauer mentioned in a blog post. “Luckily, food insecurity is an unusual policy challenge in that it recommends a clear solution. To reduce the number of people, including children, who have insufficient food due to a lack of resources, policymakers can supply the resources.”
