Four reasons school breakfast get kids off to a great start

September 5, 2017 – We’ve all heard the saying, “you are what you eat” and that generally applies to children and teens. This is especially important during the school year, when they spend about six hours a day in the classroom.

But why has school breakfast become such a hot topic in recent years?

Here are four reasons:

1. Missing meals and experiencing hunger impair children’s development and achievement – not just in the short term. Many chronic health problems such as obesity, heart disease and high blood pressure can be traced back to an unhealthy diet in childhood. Diets deficient in iron and DHA might lead to learning and motor delays.
2. Eating breakfast at school helps children perform better. As the first meal of the day, breakfast has been shown to improve cognitive function, attention and memory. It also increases energy throughout the day and boosts alertness.
3. Students who eat breakfast at school have better attendance records and exhibit fewer behavior problems. Studies have shown that children who eat at school – closer to test-taking time – perform better on standardized tests than those who skip breakfast or eat at home. Breakfast also helps improve performance on demanding mental tasks and reaction to frustration.
4. Obesity is a major – and growing – problem among American children. Participation in school breakfast has been associated with a lower body mass index and lower probability of being overweight. Additionally, children who participate in school breakfast are more likely to consume diets that are at least adequate in vitamins and minerals.

In 2016, 121,386 students in 1,284 Oregon schools took part in the free and reduced school breakfast program through the federal government’s Food and Nutrition Service. Nationally, more than 89,000 schools and institutions participate. The program is critical to thousands of families across the country and important in the fight against hunger and poverty.

Sources:
http://www.nea.org/home/39282.htm
http://frac.org/wp-content/uploads/breakfastforlearning-1.pdf