A COLLECTION OF RESEARCH AND PROGRAMMATIC INSIGHTS RELEASE MAY 2021 ADDRESSING TEEN HUNGER 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS About this Report ............................................................................................... 3 Teens and Food Insecurity Research ............................................................4 Addressing Teen Hunger Across the Feeding America Network ..................................................................... 10 National Partner Spotlight: YMCA Teen Programming ...............................................................................16 Addressing Teen Hunger in the Time of COVID-19 ..................................................................................18 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AUTHORS WE APPRECIATE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS TO THIS REPORT Lauren Draftz Caitlin Fitzpatrick Monica Hake Lydia Preuss Food Bank for New York City Mya Price Cheyanna Johnson Amy Schumacher Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida Eugenie Sellier Feeding the Gulf Coast Food Bank David Lloyd Central Pennsylvania Food Bank Rev. Phoebe Kitson-Davis Chester County Food Bank Stacey McDaniel YMCA of the USA Feeding America would also like to thank the team from the Urban Institute for their collaboration with the studies and related efforts referenced in this report. We are grateful to Resonate. Design. That Matters. LLC for designing the report. Finally, Feeding America would also like to acknowledge the teens who contributed to the efforts described in this report and whose voices we hope to continue to elevate. 2 Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, we provide meals to more than 40 million people each year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. ABOUT THIS REPORT In 2019, more than 35 million people lived in food-insecure households in the United States, including nearly 11 million children—many of whom are teenaged.1 The second decade of life is considered to be a period of tremendous growth, development, and change.2 Yet, compared to younger children, less is known about teenagers and their experiences facing hunger. When it comes to service delivery, child feeding programs often need to be adapted to effectively reach teens. In 2016, Feeding America report reveals, food banks are network; and a spotlight on the released Bringing Teens to the implementing creative methods efforts of one national partner— Table, a report produced through to increase teen participation and YUSA—to address teen hunger. a multi-year collaboration with the meet teens where they are. These insights reflect efforts and Urban Institute aimed at better What follows is a compilation service delivery from before the understanding teens’ experiences of insights about food insecurity COVID-19 pandemic, so a final when food and other household among teens and the work being section has been added to capture resources are scarce. Since then, done to address it. The insights emerging efforts to address teen others have added to the body are drawn from a variety of hunger since the pandemic began. of knowledge about teens and sources: research, including the This report is not meant to be hunger, though ample opportunity 2016 qualitative study released by exhaustive of the research and for additional research still remains. Feeding America and the Urban programmatic approaches focused During this time, there has been Institute which highlights teens’ on this area, but a resource a growing interest across the experiences in their own words; highlighting the struggles and Feeding America network when exploratory work to engage resiliencies of teens experiencing it comes to innovative ways teens in program design; program food insecurity and the successes of engaging teens in child and spotlights from five different food and challenges of those working family program initiatives. As this banks across the Feeding America to support and empower them. 1Coleman-Jensen, A., et al. (2020). Household Food Security in the United States in 2019. U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. 2 World Health Organization. (n.d.) “Adolescent Development: A Critical Transition.” ADDRESSING TEEN HUNGER | 3 TEENS AND FOOD INSECURITY RESEARCH In 2019, approximately one in seven children under the age of 18 in the U.S. lived in a food-insecure household, representing 10.7 million children. Beyond this measure, USDA’s annual report on household food insecurity does not provide information specific to teens. While there is a sizeable body of research on food insecurity among children, it tends to focus on younger children. Limited information exists on how teenagers cope when food and other resources are scarce. 4 Bringing Teens to the Table In an effort to further understand teens’ experience of food insecurity, between 2014 and 2015, Feeding America partnered with the Urban Institute to conduct focus groups with teenagers in 10 communities across the country. From those discussions, the following findings and recommendations emerged: FINDINGS • Teens are active participants • Teens facing hunger • SNAP is an important in family food acquisition fear stigma and are source of support for many and management strategies. embarrassed to receive families, and benefits are Finding ways to get the most food assistance in publicly valued because they allow food at the lowest cost is a visible settings. households to acquire food common focus, even though by shopping in mainstream Many teens are either it often means choosing less • retail settings. unaware of or perceive healthy options. that assistance programs • Some teens facing serious • When household resources are not available to them. deprivation resort to are scarce, teens often For example, they may strategies to get food that take on responsibilities assume that summer feeding involve personal risk and for bringing in food and options are only for younger potential long-term negative resources. This can mean children, or that charitable consequences, such as going without to ensure feeding programs like food exhibiting criminal behavior younger siblings have what pantries are only available or engaging in transactional they need. to adults. dating relationships. RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON INSIGHTS FROM TEENS: • Address teen food insecurity • Offer access to food through outreach through schools. in the household context, discrete means, such as Also consider teenagers’ rather than focusing on a home delivery, to both aid needs and preferences when child-only strategy, since those without transportation choosing food and non- teens do not experience and maintain confidentiality. perishable offerings. hunger in a vacuum. • Adapt food assistance • Adopt a teen-lens in food • Mitigate stigma and strategies to meet teens’ insecurity research and encourage participation by needs. When possible, program evaluation to better combining food distribution engage teens in program understand the needs and with other services or design and outreach efforts. experiences of teens facing activities, like health clinics or food insecurity. Improve outreach to teens free games in the park. Offer • by incorporating social programs in locations where media and expanding teens typically congregate. For complete information about the study, visit www.feedingamerica.org/teen-hunger research ADDRESSING TEEN HUNGER | 5 Other Research The body of research on how teens experience food insecurity is still growing. This list of findings and studies is not exhaustive, but provides added insight into the ways that teens cope with food insecurity. • Teens are often active or School Breakfast parent and child acculturative participants in family food Program, were less likely and economic stress,9 acquisition and management to report good health, One study found that strategies.3,4 were more likely to have • teenage labor force a lower GPA, and were Focus groups with rural participation has a protective • less likely to report weekly teens living in food-insecure effect on food insecurity strenuous exercise or households revealed that among children in general, participation in a young teens can feel and particularly for those sports team.6 isolated from their broader at the severe end of the community, but connected • Adolescent food insecurity scale, though it was unclear to others who share similar is associated with mood, if work activities to help experiences of facing hunger.5 anxiety, behavior, and alleviate a family’s material substance disorders.7,8 hardship interfere with the When compared to their • ability of teens to participate food-secure counterparts, In a study of food-insecure • effectively in school, food-insecure high schoolers Hispanic and Latino youth, create additional stress. in rural areas consumed compared to their food- or have other unintended fewer calories, were more secure peers, Hispanic/ consequences that may likely to participate in the Latino youth in food-insecure be less positive.10 National School Lunch households had greater 3Gustafson, A., Wu, Q., Spees, C., Putnam, N., Adams, I., Harp, D., Bush, H., & Taylor, C. (2014). “How Adolescents and Parents Food Shopping Patterns and Social Interaction when Shopping is Associated with Dietary Outcomes