If you’ve ever been worried about the level of crime in New Zealand but you don’t think you need to worry about new research out today showing the scale of food poverty in New Zealand - then you need to think again.

We’re talking food poverty among kids which has health researchers at Auckland University and the Eastern Institute of Technology saying that, instead of cutting costs, the Government should be doubling the school lunch programme.

And, if that’s what the experts think is needed, then I’m with them. Because I’ll tell you now - some of the hungry kids of today are the criminals of tomorrow.

They are the canary in the mine. And we better be listening.

You’ll know as well as I do that, whenever we talk about crime, generally people want something done about it right now.

But you do get the odd person saying that the solution isn’t in the here-and-now. The solution is nipping things in the bud as early as possible to try and prevent kids turning into criminals.

And making sure kids are fed properly is one way to nip things in the bud. 

I know it’s the responsibility of parents or caregivers to make sure that happens. But we can bang-on about that as much as we want and it won't change anything for these kids.  

These findings out today paint a very sad picture of the scale of food poverty in New Zealand. And, instead of getting all excited about the cost and taxpayer money and lunches being thrown in the bin at the end of the day, we need to see the opportunity we have.

Sohere’s what the researchers are saying. And here’s why we need to make this connection between hungry kids and crime.

Academic performance. Essentially, that’s what this is all about. Which I know the Government seems to be all about too. But there’s more to it than new curriculums and and hour of maths and an hour of english and no cellphones. 

Generally, it’s understood that if a child isn’t being fed properly, that has some impact on how they do at school.

But these New Zealand researchers have been blown away by what they’ve found. 

They have found that a child who goes hungry has a learning gap of two to four years - compared to the rest of their classmates. They didn’t expect it to be quite so bad. But that’s the reality.

And there are quite a few kids in this camp. OECD data says 14 percent of New Zealand kids miss out on meals because there isn’t enough money at home to buy all the food they need.

That’s 14 percent in New Zealand compared to the OECD average of 8 percent.

So you take a child who is four years behind everyone else - how are things going to go for them? You can take your choice out of pretty badly, pretty badly or pretty badly.

If you’re four years behind everyone else - or even two years - your chances of catching up are pretty slim. Even slimmer if you don't have enough food in your belly.

Soyou’re behind everyone. You’ve got no energy. Your sense of self-worth goes out the door. Disaster waiting to happen.

And, for some, the disaster does happen. And, with not much to offer the world, the only option they see for themselves is to link up with other people just like them.

People left behind by the education system. People who grew up in families where food wasn’t a priority or it was just too expensive.

People who have pretty much lost all hope by the time they finally get to escape from school. And who think the only way they’re going to get ahead in life is selling drugs or doing ram raids.

And, when they do, anyone who doesn’t give a damn about this research out today, won’t have a leg to stand on when it’s their place that’s done over five or ten years from now.

And that’s why, if these health experts are saying today that there is clear evidence that more money needs to go into school lunches, we should do it.