School Breakfast Club Programs in Australian Primary Schools, Not Just Addressing Food Insecurity: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

<jats:p> Background. Many Australian primary schools have established school breakfast clubs (SBCs) to address concerns about children arriving at school hungry and the subsequent impact on learning but their effectiveness is uncertain. This study aimed to identify the perceived benefits, impacts, operational practices, and challenges of running SBCs. Method. Case studies with 10 Australian primary schools from different socioeconomic and geographic areas. Focus groups or interviews were held with 142 participants including students, parents/carers, school staff, and funding body representatives between July 2016 and October 2017. Results. There were no eligibility criteria to attend SBCs with all students able to attend, regardless of household income. Thus, participating in the SBC was often reported as a matter of choice rather than a consequence of food insecurity. Participants, including children, discussed the many social benefits of SBCs (i.e., social eating, relationship building, school connection, and engagement) as well as perceived improved classroom behavior. Challenges for program delivery included resource limitations, particularly, the reliance on volunteers and sourcing food. Discussion/Conclusion. SBCs offered a range of benefits beyond their primary goal of addressing food security. SBCs were highly valued by members of the school community for their social, welfare, well-being, and educational benefits, but program sustainability is constrained by resource limitations. </jats:p>

Strategies used by schools to tackle food insecurity and hunger: a qualitative enquiry in 15 Victorian schools

“…they ‘forgot lunch’) to obfuscate their hunger. Research suggests that typically parents and care givers employ varied strategies, including skipping meals and hiding food, to protect their children 14 . However, this study shows that children remain exposed.…”

“…However as an example of recent policy shift, since 2015 the Victorian state government began to fund 500 disadvantaged schools to receive school breakfasts, 24 in place at seven of the participating schools. In a 2019 qualitative enquiry of food insecurity at five primary schools in the state of Tasmania, Australia, researchers found schools accepted their ‘… recent and growing responsibility …’ to feed students 14 . However, apart from a government‐funded breakfast program for 500 designated schools, at present it is up to individual schools in Victoria to coordinate and implement strategies to address food insecurity in collaboration with not‐for‐profit organisations such as Eat Up and/or local organisations for lunch meals or food hampers.…”

“…A lack of access to food during the school day has been reported in Australia 8,14,15 . Australian children typically bring a packed lunch to school from home or purchase lunch from a school canteen.…”

“…Over the past decade, teachers, not‐for‐profit organisations and local communities have mobilised to tackle hunger in schools, yet the various strategies employed by these organisations are not extensively documented. Recent evaluations of free breakfast programs in Western Australia, 16 Tasmania, 14 South Australia 17 and Victoria 18 underscores this as an emerging setting that is responding to children's food insecurity.…”

“…13 A lack of access to food during the school day has been reported in Australia. 8,14,15 Australian children typically bring a packed lunch to school from home or purchase lunch from a school canteen. Unlike some other high-income countries, there are no universal feeding programs or national school food or nutrition policies.…”