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N.C. kids face ongoing food hardship

Posted on April 1, 2010April 1, 2010 by Staff

ALEXANDRA SIROTA

The epidemic of childhood obesity has recently found a prominent place in our national conversation, bolstered no doubt by the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign and the “Food Revolution” promoted by crusading British chef Jamie Oliver. Yet, as our nation contemplates the perils of abundance, it is easy to forget that many of our kids aren’t eating enough.

Recent analysis found that North Carolina ranks ninth-worst among the states in food hardship. Nearly one in three children in our state is food insecure, meaning that some time in the last 12 months their families did not have enough money to purchase the food they needed. As more North Carolina workers face new or prolonged unemployment, it will be increasingly difficult for them to keep nutritious food on the table.

The impact on children of inadequate (and insufficiently nutritious) food supplies is profound. Evidence confirms that children who are food insecure are more likely to miss school, more likely to have difficulty paying attention in school and less likely to graduate.

Counter-intuitively, food hardship also co-exists with obesity, a growing epidemic among North Carolina’s children. As money gets tight, households turn to foods that provide high caloric content for a low price. Many people don’t realize that fresh fruits, vegetables and meats are considerably more expensive than pre-packaged, processed foods, which are usually full of sugar and fat.

Of course, even if a household was able to afford fresh foods, many low-income neighborhoods do not have access to the grocery stores that sell these foods. This lack of access has generated “food deserts” in rural and urban communities across North Carolina, most often in areas of high poverty and/or communities of color. Obesity and diet-related diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancers are thus disproportionately impacting communities without access to healthy foods.

North Carolina’s congressional delegation should make sure that a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill is fully funded and that it includes provisions to expand the Afterschool Meal Program, invest in summer nutrition programs and support universal school breakfast programs in low-income schools. They should also support the establishment of a National Fresh Food Financing Initiative, as proposed in President Obama’s new budget. This initiative would provide one-time grants and loan financing to support the development of fresh-food retail outlets in underserved communities.

At the state level, it is essential that food assistance be available to residents in a timely manner. Ensuring that administrative dollars for the Food Stamp, or SNAP, program are maintained so that local departments of social services can manage their increased caseload is essential to putting these federal dollars to work to stimulate local economies. Given that children consume more than half of their calories at school, our state lawmakers should ensure that all foods sold on school grounds are healthy choices.

Nutritious food is the fuel that powers children’s successful development. All children should have access to quality and affordable fresh foods. Making sure that all children get enough quality fresh foods deserves as much attention as the quantity of junk food consumed. Let’s hope that federal and state leaders continue to craft and grow policies that advance this critically important objective.

Alexandra Sirota is the director of policy and research at Action for Children North Carolina.

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