Alleviating child hunger starts in schools

Canadian children living in poverty are vulnerable for a reason. They cannot vote. They cannot hire lobbyists to sway public policy. When poor children become adults, they are more likely to become mentally stressed, unproductive in the workplace and prone to crime. If they pass on their socio-economic disadvantages to their own children, a vicious cycle is created.

When the Canadian government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, it was committed to protect the basic economic security of children under Article 27. But by many measures, initiatives to help children have failed. Poor children today are still likely to suffer from hunger, leading to malnutrition and bad health.

According to the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, families facing food insecurity are no more likely to use food banks, over a 10-year period, despite a 65 per cent increase in the number of food banks and similar agencies. Food banks, along with community kitchens and gardens, failed to make an impact on hunger.

Some of these programs may have been altogether avoided by families. The reasons are unknown. Perhaps there is a stigma attached to charity, a theory that is supported by studies showing that poor families would rather cope with food insecurity by eating cheap food or skipping meals than visiting a food bank.

Single-parent families in Atlantic Canada offer insight into child hunger. In an academic study conducted by a Dalhousie University professor and her colleagues, 96 per cent of poor, single-mother households and their children surveyed in the Atlantic Provinces suffered from some form of food insecurity. In one-quarter of the cases, the children subjects experienced serious hunger in the past month (serious hunger is defined as going to bed hungry). The research was consistent with claims in Toronto that 94 per cent of low-income, food bank beneficiaries suffered from food insecurity during the past year.

There is evidence that food insecurity leads to obesity among schoolchildren, which leads to various chronic diseases. After all, many poor children deal with hunger by eating cheap and unhealthy foods that are high in carbohydrates. One study showed that Indigenous people, young Nova Scotians and Quebecers are particularly vulnerable among the overweight.

Given the reality of child hunger, there is a need to continually monitor food insecurity. Health professionals need to standardize surveys and other metrics of hunger. They can complement existing ones that are used by Statistics Canada.

While increasing the income of families — through raising welfare transfers and minimum wages — is one solution, a bolder and inclusive option is introducing a universal meal program in schools across Canada. Such a program exists at the school district level in the U.S. and includes affordable breakfasts and lunches for all schoolchildren. This removes the stigma of receiving aid; everyone who shows up in school benefits from inexpensive foods. Well-priced meals, given their power to alleviate hunger, should be a right to all children. GARY LAI IS AN ECONOMIST. HE