The Role of District Wellness Policies in Encouraging Student Participation in the School Breakfast Program, United States

Abstract

Eating breakfast is associated with better academic performance and nutrition and lower risk of obesity, but skipping breakfast is common among children and adolescents, and participation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s School Breakfast Program (SBP) is low. This study assessed the association between school district wellness policy provisions coded as part of the National Wellness Policy Study and student SBP participation and acceptance of the breakfasts provided using cross-sectional survey data from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study. Separate survey-adjusted multivariable logistic regressions were computed, linking students eating (N = 1575) and liking (N = 726) the school breakfast to corresponding district policy measures, controlling for school and student characteristics. Strong district policy, as opposed to no policy, was associated with significantly higher odds of students eating the school breakfast (odds ratio (OR): 1.86; 95% CI: 1.09, 3.16; p = 0.022), corresponding to an adjusted prevalence of 28.4% versus 19.2%, and liking the school breakfast (OR: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.26, 3.63; p = 0.005), corresponding to an adjusted prevalence of 69.0% versus 53.9%. District policy has the potential to play an important role in encouraging higher levels of SBP participation.

Expanding school wellness policies to encompass the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model

“…Researchers have found that almost all US school districts have complied with this legislation and have created written wellness policies ( 9 ). Evaluations of strength and comprehensiveness indicate that policies have improved over time; however, there is still considerable variability across districts ( 10 ).…”

Urban–Rural Differences in School Districts’ Local Wellness Policies and Policy Implementation Environments

“…Children spend an average of 6.5 h in school per day [ 14 , 15 ], eat two meals per day at school [ 16 ], and, on average, receive up to 40% of their physical activity during school hours [ 17 ]. Comprehensive and well-implemented LWPs are consistently associated with superior school district health environments as well as nutritional and physical activity outcomes [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Thus, LWPs could play substantial roles in reducing childhood obesity [ 22 , 23 ].…”

Social and Economic Status and its Relationship Dietary behavior of Female’s Students from Al-Qunfuthah University College

“…It leads to the improvement of healthy habits throughout life, (13). Skipping breakfast is especially common among older children, adolescents, and females, because eating breakfast is associated with good nutrition, better academic performance, and a lower risk of obesity (14), and that skipping breakfast and eating snacks has an impact on academic performance among adolescents (15), and that the consumption of breakfast is positively affected by family factors such as the type of family, the education of the mother and father, the occupation of the mother and father and the monthly income of the family (16).…”