Study: 1 in 4 children in Ind. don’t get enough to eat

Children in Indiana and across the United States are disproportionately affected by a lack of food, according to a new study released Thursday.

In Indiana, about one in four children does not have an adequate supply of food, a rate that is significantly higher than the rate among adults, according to the study from Feeding Indiana’s Hungry and Feeding America. About one in six adults face the same situation.

“Food insecurity threatens the health, education and workforce readiness of one in four Hoosier children. Even if we are not aware of anyone in need, the problem is much closer to home than we might think, and it cannot be ignored,” Emily Weikert Bryant, executive director of Feeding Indiana’s Hungry, said in a press release.

Food insecurity is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “the lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.”

The study offers data for the first time from the national level down to the county level on the rate of childhood food insecurity.

The new study was designed to allow organizations like food banks and government food programs to more precisely target their hunger alleviation efforts toward areas facing a larger food insecurity problem, the organization said in a press release.

Seventeen million children across the United States and about 390,000 children in Indiana meet the criteria, the study found, including about 5,000 children in Monroe County and 12,000 children in the six counties served by the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

The study revealed interesting data about the demographics of food insecurity in Indiana.

State levels range from a low of 17 percent in Hamilton County to highs of 32 percent or more in Fayette, Elkhart, Adams, Miami, Crawford and LaGrange counties.

In Monroe County, the child food insecurity rate is 22 percent, slightly lower than the statewide rate of 25 percent.

Counties with higher levels of food insecurity among children were concentrated in rural areas, especially in the south and the most northeastern parts of the state, where child food insecurity rates often exceed 30 percent.

Indiana ranks 23rd in the United States for highest child food insecurity.

However, an inadequate food supply for children means more than just empty stomachs, the study indicated. It can have far-reaching implications for a child’s school performance and future economic situation.

The study found that children who are food insecure are more likely to be placed in special education classes, to have disciplinary problems in school and to perform worse academically than their peers who come from food-sufficient families. Children in food-insufficient situations are also more likely to have higher medical costs throughout the course of their lives, according to the study.

The study also indicated that food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (formerly called the Food Stamps Program) might not sufficiently accommodate the needs of children in food-insufficient situations.

In Indiana, 38 percent of food insecure children are ineligible for any federal food assistance programs and must depend upon charities for help. This figure is 16 percent higher than the nationwide level.

— Zach Ammerman