Spring 2004 - Volume 6
School Breakfast: More than nutrition!

• Why Breakfast?
• USDA School Breakfast Pilot Study
• Breakfast: A common solution.
• Downloadable Parents' Newsletter
• Give us your feeback!
• Past issues of the NuNews Newsletter

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Why Breakfast?

A report on the universal free classroom breakfast study in Minnesota concluded:

A nutritious, universal school breakfast that is free to all students every morning regardless of income is as critical as textbooks and computers for students to be ready for each day's educational opportunities.¹

• Academic Achievement
• Gain in Level II Math, Reading and Writing
• Behavior Changes
• Improvement in Attention and Behavior

Academic Achievement²

• Math, reading, and writing components of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments were used to measure academic achievement at Fast Break to Learning (treatment) schools with the universal breakfast program compared to control schools that served breakfast in the usual manner.
• Fast Break to Learning schools had greater rates of increase on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) than the control schools in:
  1. overall scores,
  2. percentage of students achieving at or above Levels II and III

The percentage of students achieving at least Level II is particularly important because this level defines an acceptable level of achievement on the MCA.

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Gain in Level II Math, Reading and Writing²

The increase in the 5th grade students achieving Level II at the Fast Break to Learning Schools was:

Math Achievement
      - More that 3 times that of the increase at control school
Reading and Writing
      - More that 2 times that of the increase at control schools

5th Grade Percent Gain from 1998-1999 (baseline year) to 2001-2003²

Math


Reading

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Behavior Changes

A similar impact of universal free school breakfast on academic achievement has also been noted in Massachusetts³ and Baltimore.⁴

In addition, the breakfast program positively impacts other behaviors. Excellent examples of these benefits are found in the results of the universal classroom breakfast from the Maryland Meals for Achievement (MMFA) Program. Here is a brief overview of what the researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School have found so far in their evaluation of this program:³

School Attendance

• An increase in attendance at school that amounts to an average of two days per pupil per year

Student Attention and Behavior Problems

Surveys in classroom breakfast schools indicated staff was

• 2 times as likely to find an improvement in student attention, and
• to report a significant improvement in student behavior and attitude.

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Improvement in Attention and Behavior³

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References: Click here.