For many years, scholars have recognized the link between a good breakfast and improved student behavior and academic performance in schools. In 2000, the Boston schools partnered with the Massachusetts General Hospital to conduct a study on the impact of the federal School Breakfast
Program, which is used in 16 of their elementary schools. Researchers found that a simple breakfast of milk, juice, and cereal provides a fourth of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of key nutrients that growing children need. Breakfast reduces hunger in the classroom and improves the overall nutrition of students. They found that student behavior and grades improved, especially in mathematic, and students were able to spend more time on tasks and were more creative. Attendance also improved. Students demonstrated better concentration and improved emotional functioning, and trips to the nurse’s office were drastically reduced.
Breakfast is by far the least expensive program for improving academic achievement, yet less
than half of the children eligible for the free or reduced price meals participate nationwide. One major obstacle is perception; breakfast programs are viewed as programs for the “poor kids,” a label many students wish to avoid. The other major obstacle is timing. Most schools across the country serve breakfast before the start of school, so children who arrive late due to tight morning schedules or because of buses that are late, miss breakfast.
Many of the Boston schools have implemented innovative strategies to overcome the obstacles of perception and timing with tremendous responses. Some of the strategies are as follows:
• Nearly 80 elementary schools now offer a universal breakfast—all children eat together
for free. The “poor kid” stigma has been eliminated.
• Participating Boston schools make breakfast a normal and expected part of the morning
schedule—no different than taking attendance.
• Boston schools serve breakfast in a variety of ways, using the method that works best
for each individual school’s culture. Methods range from serving in the classroom to
grab and go, brown bag breakfasts to sending students to the cafeteria after
attendance or a combination of these approaches.
• Involving the children in the program makes it more successful too. Children rotating the
responsibilities of being in charge of food delivery to the classrooms, removing trash
after-breakfast, and returning leftovers to the cafeteria instill pride and responsibility.
They become part of the program, not just participants.
The Boston schools have found that when their educators make breakfast a priority and part of the daily schedule, it is more acceptable to the students and has a better chance of succeeding as a program. Breakfast is an inexpensive way for schools to achieve substantial academic results—especially in the children who need breakfast the most.