Below is an overview of the research released by Massey University in 2007:
A programme tackling child poverty by giving raincoats to children at low decile schools has done more than simply keep kids dry – it has boosted their self-esteem, pride in their school and attendance in the process. Professor Mike O’Brien, who teaches and researches social policy at Massey’s School of Social and Cultural Studies, has evaluated the free raincoat scheme provided by the KidsCan Charitable Trust - believed to be unique internationally. A concurrent scheme provides free low sugar, low fat muesli bars which have protein and fruit for a quick nutrition boost to children in poorer areas. He found that many children were so proud of their quality black adidas rain jackets adorned with the All Black fern logo that they wore them rain or shine. “It is resoundingly clear that gifting of a normally expensive and quality item has made a huge impression on the children for whom this rarely, if ever, occurs,” he says in the just-released report titled Full Tummies and Dry Clothes: Evaluating the KidsCan Programmes.
“The All Black logo has also played an important part. Reports of some children wearing them every day and all day and of all children taking much more care of their raincoats than any other item of clothing is clear evidence of this. Furthermore, there are numerous reports that it has lifted self-esteem and pride in both themselves and their schools,” he noted. Anecdotal evidence suggested that having a raincoat meant more children attended school on rainy days, when they might otherwise have stayed home because they lacked one. A food distribution programme offering free muesli bars and pottles of fruit to hungry children was also deemed successful by the report.
Lack of food is widely believed to interfere with a child’s ability to concentrate, learn and behave well. The study, through recording teachers’ and principals’ observations, confirmed that offering a nutritious health bar and fruit pottle definitely helped children who may have had no breakfast or lunch to cope with classroom work. The availability of food at school had been pivotal in extreme cases of deprivation, such as reported by one school principal who told Professor O’Brien; “There are children who don’t have dinner. They might get some bread and make a sandwich.
They might then come to school with no breakfast. And you can see the unhappiness they bring with them. (It’s) on their faces, you can see them walking to school unhappy at the beginning of the day and you can ask what’s up and they say, ‘I’m hungry’ … They fill their tummies on what they get out of the water fountain.”
“If it is true that children ‘fill their tummies on what they get out of the water fountain’ this is indeed an indication of a serious level of hunger faced by some children in New Zealand today. Perhaps the government should seriously consider taking responsibility for ensuring all children are adequately fed, until such time as poverty is eradicated in New Zealand.”