Breakfast Building Blocks
Posted by Michael McKenna on Wednesday, February 2, 2011
As a kid my mom always reminded my sisters and I that breakfast was the most important meal of the day.
She was also a teacher so she probably was also thinking from that perspective, knowing what her classroom was like when students came to school with empty bellies.
In an ideal world, parents’ budgets could easily accommodate the cost of 3 squares a day – but in the world we live in, low-income households are faced with touch choices – meals, heat, rent, medical bills – it’s an unfortunate monthly budgetary triage. When kids are in school, then, it makes sense for them to receive nutrition that they need to stay focused and healthy in the classroom.
In the State of the Union, the President talked about the competitive future America’s kids face. Data show that kids that eat school breakfast perform better academically. That’s good news if we’re looking to raise a generation of critical thinkers ready to take on the challenges of the 21st century economy. But even though every child that gets free and reduced price school lunch qualifies for free and reduced price breakfast, less than half get it each morning. According to a new study from FRAC, only 47.2 % of eligible children participate. To be fair, the numbers for 2010 were better than the participation rates in 2009, so at least we’re making progress.
But that still leaves a big gap. Kids that miss breakfast are more likely to have poor attendance, more frequent nurses visits, and act out in class. That is why Share Our Strength is hard at work trying to get eligible students connected to breakfast at school. There are lots of creative ways to boost the breakfast rolls. They key point is to build breakfast into the school day. If kids eat in the classroom as part of the first part of first period, every child gets nourished while also running through the housekeeping items of the day with their teacher.
You can find out more about ways to promote school breakfast in your school on the No Kid Hungry action center.
February 2, 2011 | 0 comment(s) | Tags: president, State of the Union
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