SNAP Cultivates Life-Long Achievement For Students
The clock hits 12 O’Clock and your stomach starts to growl, time to head to the kitchen and grab lunch. Unfortunately, this isn’t a reality for many school-aged children. One in 6 children are food insecure, and 13 million children live in food-insecure households. But a child who faces food insecurity faces more than discomfort around mealtime. Food insecurity impacts academic achievement and has a lasting impact throughout a child's life. Food insecure children enter Kindergarten at a developmental disadvantage.
They are at risk for delayed development and decreased intellectual and emotional readiness to start school. As early childhood development is foundational to the rest of a child’s life, these obstacles can impact the child's ability to acquire school and job skills. Children who are food insecure are more likely to progress slower in reading and mathematics than their food-secure counterparts. Additionally, food-insecure children and teenagers are more likely to miss school and have to repeat grades. Food insecurity negatively impacts children throughout their lives and therefore hinders our economy by hampering those entering the workforce.
Government programs such as SNAP are critical in reducing food insecurity and therefore lessening the academic gap between food insecure and food secure children. SNAP provides more nutrition assistance to children in low-income families than any other federal program. In an average month, 1 in 4 children in the United States receives SNAP benefits. Forty-Four percent of SNAP participants are children, and another 21% are adults living with children. Receiving SNAP benefits can lead to increased performance in reading and mathematics and can lead to increased high school graduation rates. In conclusion, SNAP is crucial in helping America’s most vulnerable children grow up strong, smart, and better positioned to excel in school and in their post-school careers.
