Child malnutrition – how will it affect your company’s future?

Hi folks,

Again, something topical in the news this past week, apparently 1 in 4 children are going to school with out food (down to family financial troubles). This may be that they’ve had no breakfast or that they will have to go without any dinner, quite shocking by today’s standards!

Immediate danger: obviously that child is going to have no fuel for the day so their concentration, alertness, attention spans, & depth of ability are all going to be affected. Physically their energy levels, growth & repair, & hormones will also be in jeopardy.

Mid-term danger: If the body doesn’t have the correct nutrition at certain times of the day then this is when we get cravings for high sugar, salt, & saturated fat snacks (crisps, chocolate, buns, burgers etc). This often then becomes habit & before we know it we have an unhealthy diet. Could this happen with the kids in question? – YEP! So this means that all the ‘immediate dangers’ above could be happening over a long period of time & as a result that child / student may under perform, ultimately coming away with lower grades & health issues.

Long term: Okay so that child, now a young adult of working age comes to work for your company. As you can see the food habits & lifestyle that they have adopted from no original fault of their own, are going to affect their performance for your company!

Solutions? I know this is a long view of the situation & as a company it’s hard to do anything about it, but look around you & ask ‘How much does a person’s upbringing affect their lifestyle today?’ On idea may be to offer a food-bank or supplement service to the families of your employees, or maybe to a local school. The benefits from the positive media coverage of this alone would probably make it worthwhile!

James