Abstract

Objective: In 2018, 11.1% of American households were food insecure at least once. Annual reports on food insecurity conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture study the prevalence of household food insecurity; however, they fail to conceptualize the consequences that are associated with being food insecure. The objective of this study is to analyze the impacts of food insecurity on academic performance of children currently enrolled in an Orange County, Florida, K-12 public school. Methods: One focus group and 10 one-on-one interviews were conducted with parents who have at least one child currently enrolled in a K-12 public school in Orange County, Florida, to capture the concerns that they have regarding food and their children's academic performance. In addition to this qualitative approach, a quantitative survey was administered to the respondents to measure the extent to which they are food insecure. Results: The data from this study show that food insecurity can impact a child's ability to perform to their fullest potential in school. Mainly parents reported that their household's access to food impacts their children's ability to concentrate in school. Further, more salient findings emerged, such as the costs of living in Orange County, a need for greater government assistance, reliance on outside sources of food to feed their children, transportation issues, and health issues. Conclusion: Sociodemographic factors are known to have an effect on a child's academic performance. The findings represented in this paper suggest that social factors related to poverty disadvantage children in their pursuit of succeeding academically.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2020

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Donley, Amy

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Degree Program

Applied Sociology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008032; DP0023172

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0023172

Language

English

Release Date

May 2020

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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