Giving Compass' Take:

• A new study shows that for children, food insecurity means not only hunger, but is also linked to sadness and stress.

• While food banks and volunteers are helpful for the growing hunger crisis, it is not a sustainable solution for addressing the problem of poverty and hunger. Can donors work with the government to provide more long-term relief? 

• Here's why healthy meals in schools are critical for students. 

Parents who experience food insecurity might think they’re protecting their kids from their family’s food situation if they eat less or different foods so their kids don’t have to.

But, children may know more about food insecurity—the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food—than their parents give them credit for.

“The long-held assumption is that parents will do whatever it takes to protect their children from food insecurity,” says Cindy Leung, assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan and lead researcher of the paper in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

“Our study shows that children are not only aware that their family is food insecurity, but they’re also psychologically impacted by it.”

“THERE’S SO MUCH MORE TO FOOD THAN WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE ENOUGH. IT IMPACTS YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH AND YOUR MENTAL WELL-BEING…”

The researchers talked to 60 children, ages 7 to 14, from the San Francisco Bay area. The children discussed worrying about not having enough food and about their parents’ well-being, anger, and frustration about the lack of food; embarrassment about their family’s situation; strain on the family’s dynamics due to food insecurity; and sadness over not having enough food.

Read the full article about food insecurity for children by Nardy Baeza Bickel at Futurity.