School Breakfast Program and School Performance

Abstract

Children who participate in the School Breakfast Program show significant improvement in academic performance and tardiness rates, and a trend toward improvement in absenteeism. The School Breakfast Program was created by Congress in 1966 to provide a breakfast on school days for low income children who would otherwise have none. Children (N=1,023) in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 in six elementary schools in Lawrence, Massachusetts, were chosen for a one-year study on the effects of Breakfast Program participation. Rates of change were calculated for test scores on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CBTS)-, absence, and tardiness for Program participant and non-participant groups before and after implementation. Participant and non-participant groups were compared with regard to demographic variables from school records, and on their CBTS score, tardiness, and absence rates of change. Results were the following: (1) participants and non-participants did not differ with respect to sex, ethnicity, or number of children per family; (2) participants improved their CBTS score; (3) absenteeism of both participants and non-participants increased, but there was less increase for participants; and (4) tardiness decreased for participants and increased for non-participants. Limitations of the study include the following: (1) access to data was limited to those available from school records; and (2) not knowing which of the study subjects habitually did not eat breakfast prior to the implementation of the Program. Sixteen pages duplicating accompanying explanatory slides are included. (FMW)

Relationship between dietary habits and nutritional status among adolescents in Abuja municipal area council of Nigeria

“…18 A study among low-income elementary school students indicated that those who participated in the school breakfast program had greater improvements in standardized test scores and reduced rates of absenteeism and tiredness compared to children who qualified for the program but did not participate in the school breakfast program. 19 Other dietary habit observed in the present report were taking meals outside the home, infrequent intake of fruits and vegetables and snacking. These have been similarly documented, namely: eating out of the home and skipping meals.…”

“…6 The detrimental consequence of poor dietary habits such as skipping breakfast has been reported by Pollitt et al 18 and Meyers et al 19 and these include increasing prevalence of poor academic performance on standardized tests, absenteeism and tiredness among those who skipped breakfast when compared with those who always ate breakfast.…”

School Readiness

“…[38][39][40] Children attending schools with school nutrition programs have improved scores on standardized academic tests. 41 Home visiting by nurses has been shown consistently to reduce rates of childhood injury, to increase fathers' involvement, to reduce family welfare dependency, and to improve school readiness. 42 Housing subsidies have resulted in improved neighborhood safety and reduced exposure to violence.…”

Nutrition, anaemia, geohelminth infection and school achievement in rural Jamaican primary school children

“…There is some evidence that school feeding programes improve children's cognition and school achievement (Meyers et al, 1989;Powell et al, 1983;Chandler et al, 1995;Jacoby et al, 1996).…”