One of the biggest obstacles children living in financially insecure families have to deal with is malnutrition.  According to Richard Garner of The Independent, half of the country’s teachers have witnessed students, high school age or younger, afflicted by hunger. According to recent studies done by The Center on Hunger and Poverty, even mild malnutrition can affect a child’s ability to grasp basic concepts and diminish their capacity to learn. Their studies showed that household food hardships had a clear negative affect of children’s achievement scores at the elementary school level. Children living in poverty also have higher rates of tardiness and absences and are in turn, two times more likely to be held back a grade.

Almost 16 million children lived in food insecure households in 2012

Of children living in poverty, less than 1 out of every 5 are scoring at or above the national average in math, reading, and science assesments.

4th Graders Who Scored Below Proficient Reading Level By Family Income