Get ready for the cold, hard gristle of the truth: for some kids, the meals they eat at school are the only meals they eat. It's a tough tater tot to swallow, but according to the NEA article "Students Too Hungry to Learn: A Challenge We Can Solve," one in five children is affected by hunger. And being hungry squashes their ability to learn.

Like, totally squashes.

A couple examples. Students who do not get enough to eat may get sick more frequently, suffer from more headaches and stomachaches, miss classes more often, have greater difficulty regulating their moods, and have a hard time concentrating. Which, for obvious reasons, isn't too great for school performance.

The problem has become so ubiquitous that teachers who recognize hunger is a problem for their students often spend their own money to keep healthy snacks on hand—to the tune of about $37 a month on average, according to that same 2013 NEA article. And that's $37 that could be spent on your own movie tickets or orange mocha Frappuccinos.

Or, you know, meals.

Next question: what does your school offer? If the cafeteria has a free or reduced-price program for lunch, breakfast, or both, those meals may very well be the most important parts of the day for some of your students. Unfortunately, kids who qualify for these programs—particularly breakfast—are sometimes stigmatized or shamed for needing such assistance, and sometimes they miss out on meals for other reasons as well.

The good news? As a teacher (a.k.a., superhero), you can help.

Share meals with your students.

You don't have to do it every day, and you don't have to dish out $37 to do it either. But once in a while, show up for the morning breakfast program and eat with your students. No, not give them your food—just hang out and eat with them.

Doing this will model three things. One, that breakfast is an important meal. Two, that eating it at school instead of at home is perfectly normal. And three, that you care about your students.

Advocate for breakfast in the classroom.

Some schools have already moved their breakfast programs to after the first bell and into the classroom. This makes breakfast a regular part of the school day—just like lunch. For some kids, that helps normalize the idea of getting a morning meal (or a healthy morning snack) at school.

Breakfast in the Classroom programs also tend to hit more kids since shifting the meal to the beginning of the school day (rather than the über early a.m. hours before school even starts) ensures that kids who need meals have time to arrive at school and eat. Look at all the wins we're racking up here.

Find out about summer meal programs in your area.

As the No Kid Hungry Campaign says, "Summer is the hungriest time of the year." And we thought it was the sunniest, or the funnest. Huh.

Despite the fact that many communities continue their free or reduced-price breakfasts and lunches over the summer when school is not in session, far fewer students wind up taking advantage of the programs. The biggest reason? They don't know about them.

Before the school year ends, find out where meals will be available in the summer and do what you can to make sure your students and their families have the details. Post fliers, send them home with students, send out emails or tweets, post the information on your class blog or Facebook page. Whatever it takes, get the message out, and they will come.

Help educate people about the link between malnourishment and obesity.

It's true, childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States, and that can seem like a contradiction when we're talking about the number of children going hungry. But it isn't. In fact, a person can be both overweight and underfed.

As the website The Food Effect so eloquently explains, "Most people who are overweight are actually undernourished, with a diet that's high in calories but low in nutrients—a diet that is frequently the least expensive to maintain" (Source).

So if you see a child that is carrying some extra weight, don't assume that he or she is free from hunger. Those extra pounds could be the result of overeating healthy food, but they could also be the result of poor nourishment and poverty.