BRAIN FOOD: SCHOOL LUNCHES AND COGNITION

BY BEMSI WALLANG – Childhood is a precious, critical time. The brain is constantly developing and adapting to its environment. Physical growth, increased socialization, and a gradual, but certain evolution into one’s identity are the hallmarks of childhood. None of this process could be made possible without nutrition. Nutrition nurtures the furthering of the growth of every being, and good nutrition makes room for intellectual aptitude to flourish. Even prenatal nutrition has profound impacts on the mental capabilities of children. Given that children spend a considerable fraction of their days and ultimately, their lives at school, it is imperative that while they are at school, they are supplied with meals that promote optimal learning, memory, and retention.

The provision of school lunches became a national mandate in 1946 with the passing of the National School Lunch Act. From the Act grew the National School Lunch Program, which to this day provides children with low-cost and free lunch options on school days. Today, while students are guaranteed lunch at school, proper nutrition is not always a guarantee once they get home. There are millions of children in the United States that live in “food insecure” areas where their access to nutritious food is limited. Food insecure areas are often home to “food deserts,” a term encompassing urban areas lacking supermarkets within a one-mile radius and rural areas lacking supermarkets within a ten-mile radius. Children that live in food deserts are often left without nutritious meals on school holidays and breaks, especially in the summer. To remedy the disparity, the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program provides children from low-income communities across the country with healthy meals that they would otherwise never receive. Shaw, Mississippi is a food desert where “one third of its population is considered food insecure” (Pekow, 2017). If it weren’t for the town’s “Delta Hands for Hope” initiative, an after-school and summer program that provides children with meals and academic support, Shaw’s children would go hungry. With threats of impending budget cuts under our current administration on advantageous programs such as these, the span of their effect could be drastically limited in the years to come.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “hunger due to insufficient food intake is associated with lower grades, higher rates of absenteeism, repeating a grade, and an inability to focus among students” (CDC, 2014). Proper nutrition is positively correlated with high performance, so the assurance of a healthy meal is of severe importance in the life of a child. Harding Senior High in St. Paul, Minnesota prioritizes just that. A 90:90:90 school where roughly 90% of its students are minorities, come from families of low socioeconomic status, and attend college or seek careers after graduation, Harding provides three nutritious meals for its students each day and this practice is believed to have a link to the academic success of its students (Brody, 2017). Harding’s program lies in the midst of a state where 10% of its households are food-insecure and 1/6th of its children are at risk for hunger. Undoubtedly, schools across Minnesota and the nation should consider implementing transformations in meal provision for the enrichment of the health of their students.

Some progress is certainly being made, but we still have great lengths to surpass as a nation. In 2010, President Obama signed the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act” into effect which standardized an increase of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein options in school lunches across the country. It also limited sodium levels in school lunches, a decision that is now being repealed by the Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue. However, increasing sodium intake in school lunches could pose dangerous risks for students. Excess sodium intake is an increasingly problematic issue in the United States and is a main contributing factor in the onset of hypertension, stroke, heart disease, and obesity. Relaxing our standards only agitates our problems, and it’s common knowledge that childhood obesity is an overhauling epidemic in the United States. It’s an alarming reality that a third of America’s children are obese, which directly predisposes them to various chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and asthma (Campbellsville University, 2016). This reality is just as inescapable as it is alarming, and must be addressed with the health and wellbeing of our children in mind.

Nutrition plays a crucial role in determining the mental trajectory of children as they progress into adulthood. Proper nutrition prolongs their lives and overall quality of life. School-aged children undergo a substantial amount of development in such a concentrated amount of time, so it’s crucial that they receive optimal nutrition through it. Efforts to equalize proper nutrition in schools must be prioritized by the school system and the federal government alike for improvements in disproportionate access to healthy meals to be made tangible.