The Economic Impact of Childhood Hunger

For the last several years, many education experts have been calling for longer school days, weeks and years as a way to halt the competitive disadvantage being felt by American students in a global workplace where countries such as China and India keep their children in school for significantly more time.

The case has been made that the U.S. economy is suffering, in part, because our students simply cannot complete professionally with more highly educated foreigners.

A new Feeding America report supports this claim and states that--in addition to scaled back schooling--childhood hunger in the U.S. is a "contributing factor to the nation’s economic woes and puts America at a competitive disadvantage."

The reason for this, the report explains, is that when children are hungry they are unable to concentrate in school and thus do not receive as good of an education as their more nourished peers.  The logic continues that poorly educated children will turn into under-employed adults who become a drain on the country's economic resources, instead of contributing to them.

Feeding America CEO Vicki Escarra continues:

This is the first report to show the direct, tax-payer burden inflicted by child hunger - along with a clear link to long-term impacts, such as life-time earnings and the ripple effects through our economy.  It calls into question whether ongoing economic recovery can be sustained if child hunger is not eliminated; we can only achieve a prosperous future for all Americans if we ensure, right now, that all children have access to enough nutritious food for active, healthy lives.

The "tax-payer" burden she refers to includes health care costs associated with poor diets and obesity (which the report links to hunger and food insecurity).  For example, the report states that "the total estimated medical cost in the United States for obesity-related disease management among 6-17 year old children reached $127 million in 2003, and continues to rise along with the prevalence of overweight and obesity within this age group."

Now, I'm not sure if I completely buy into the theory that childhood hunger is an economic liability (i.e. poor, fat children drain our economic resources with their high health care costs and inability to find gainful employment as adults) , but this report certainly does make another strong point for why it is so important for children to have access to lots of fresh, healthy foods.

Anyone out there have thoughts about this?

(Photo credit: acnatta on Flickr)