Cheaper or costly, large or small, all cars are the same in one way – they can’t move – have no “get up and go” – unless there’s gas in their tanks! The human body, just like a car, needs fuel in order to move physically and mentally. That fuel for the body is food.

Scientists who study body strength and brain power have proven that preteens and adolescents who don’t get enough food to eat or don’t eat the kind of nutritious foods their bodies require can’t learn well in school. Like a car without the right kind of fuel or enough of it, nothing moves. Concentration, memory, the ability to understand math concepts, or to read with full comprehension all are in short supply!

For over 55 years, the US government has been so worried about kids going hungry that it gives millions of dollars each year to school so they can set up free or reduced cost breakfast and lunch programs. Over 25 million kids each day get their free food from such programs. If you or someone you know lives in a home where family members have lost jobs or earn so little money that they don’t have money to buy enough food, check out these programs. Talk to your principal, health teacher, nurse, or any other trusted adult in the school. What you tell them and what they do to include you in the free breakfast and lunch programs will not be told to anyone else. Also, have your parents speak with the school faculty because the teachers may know of other programs and services to help everyone in the family who is not getting enough to eat.

It is believed that 1 out of every 4 American households has trouble being able to feed their families. Help your family avoid being a statistic. Nobody should have to suffer in silence and nobody should have to go hungry. If you are lucky enough to live in a family where there IS enough nutritious food to go around, but you’re skipping breakfast or eating the kind of lunch or supper full of calories and fat, not food containing needed proteins, vitamins and minerals etc. wise up! You’re running on empty! You’re risking the loss of body strength, wellbeing, and brain power.