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School Breakfast Facts
-----Just the Facts ----Why Breakfast
at School
There has been a substantial decrease of children eating breakfast over
the last
25 years. Children who come to school without breakfast have a harder
time concentrating
in class, are more likely to act out and perform at lower levels
than children
who are adequately fed before class. This is an issue not only for
low-income
children, but for all students, many of whose parents do not provide
them with
breakfast due to work schedules and a hurried morning routine. In
addition, some
children are not capable of eating breakfast when they first wake
up, but are
more willing and able to eat breakfast later at school. School
breakfast is an
important tool for avoiding the distractions of an empty stomach
and preventing
unhealthy snacking as well as providing children with incentive to
arrive at
school on time.1
How Breakfast can be served at
school
(Breakfast can be eaten, on the average, in 15 minutes)
Recommendations by ISBE , FRAC, USDA and Dairy Councils1
Breakfast can be served 15 minutes before the school bell in cafeteria- Breakfast
can be served quickly from pre-packaged breakfast boxes or breakfast
sacks made the previous day.
- Students can pick up a breakfast box in the
hallway and eat in the
classroom before school starts.
- Students can eat breakfast in the classroom
in the first period while attendance
is taken, announcements are made and other worksheets are completed.
- Students can eat breakfast in a multiple purpose room while
volunteers
read books
to the kids *Called ‘Books and Breakfast’
- Breakfast can be served during homeroom
and study halls in the morning.
- Due to various schedules, breakfast can be served
in between the first
and second
class periods.
- Negotiate with bus companies to adjust for school breakfast;
if this
increases
bus cost, review the options above to prevent increase bussing
cost.
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