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No Kid Hungry Starts with Breakfast!

March 3-7, 2025: Happy National School Breakfast Week!

Kids do better when they start the day with a nutritious meal. Research shows that the simple act of eating school breakfast can change a child’s life. Making school breakfast a seamless part of the school day by serving it after the bell can also have a huge impact on classrooms.

Below are some ways school breakfast benefits kids:

  • Higher Test Scores: Hunger makes school harder. Students who eat school breakfast achieve higher scores on standardized tests.1
  • Calmer Classrooms: Children who do not regularly get enough nutritious food to eat tend to have significantly higher levels of behavioral, emotional and educational problems.1
  • School breakfast offered at no cost to all students may eliminate disparities and stigma between food-secure and food-insecure children in terms of eating breakfast at all.1
  • Fewer Trips To The Nurse: When kids come to school hungry, they visit the school nurse more often due to stomachaches and headaches. Kids who struggle with hunger are also likely to be sick more often, slower to recover from illness, hospitalized more frequently and more susceptible to obesity.2
  • Stronger Attendance & Graduation Rates: Students who eat school breakfast attend more school days. Chronic absenteeism, defined as missing three weeks or more of school, decreases by 6 percentage points on average when students have access to Breakfast After the Bell. Attendance is important, as students who attend class more regularly are 20 percent more likely to graduate from high school.3

Every time we feed a child, we unlock their ability to grow up and become the next teachers, scientists, and entrepreneurs.  To learn more, the Study on Chronic Absenteeism and Breakfast After the Bell is research that shows the impact serving breakfast as part of the school day has on student outcomes.

What is Breakfast After the Bell (BAB)?

School breakfast has many benefits that can be quickly utilized when barriers to breakfast are addressed. Some obstacles that may prevent students from eating school breakfast when it’s served in the cafeteria before the official start of the school day can include:

  • Students arriving late to school due to bus or carpool schedules

  • Stigma that school breakfast is for low-income students

  • Middle or high school students may not be hungry first thing in the morning

  • Cafeteria location is not convenient for students

  • Students prefer to socialize rather than eat alone in the morning

Breakfast After the Bell (BAB), where breakfast is served after the official start of the school day, addresses those barriers and is one of the most effective ways to significantly boost school breakfast participation. BAB programs incorporate elements of multiple models and can look different in each school and grade levels. BAB shifts the time breakfast is served so that it’s a part of the school day and moves breakfast from the cafeteria to where students are, like classrooms and common areas. There are three delivery models that have proven to be most effective in closing the hunger gap: Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC), Grab N’ Go To the Classroom, and Second Chance Breakfast.

What is Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC)?

Students eat breakfast in their classroom after the official start of the school day. Students or staff deliver breakfasts to classrooms from the cafeteria via coolers or insulated rolling bags. Breakfast in the Classroom takes 15 minutes on average. Schools reach 88 percent breakfast participation on average with this model.*

* Participation is measured by the average daily participation of free- and reduced-price school breakfast eaters / average daily participation free- and reduced-price school lunch eaters.

What is Grab N' Go to the Classroom?

Students pick up conveniently packaged breakfasts from mobile service carts in high traffic areas that are convenient to students, such as hallways, entryways or cafeterias. Students can eat in their classroom or in a common area before and after the bell has rung. Schools reach 59 percent breakfast participation on average with this model.*

* Participation is measured by the average daily participation of free- and reduced-price school breakfast eaters / average daily participation free- and reduced-price school lunch eaters.

What is Second Chance Breakfast?

Students eat breakfast during a break in the morning, often between first and second period or midway between breakfast and lunch. Schools can serve breakfast using a Grab and Go model, or they can open the cafeteria to serve breakfast during the break. Second Chance Breakfast can be effective for middle or high school students who may not be hungry first thing in the morning or prefer to socialize with friends. Schools reach 58 percent breakfast participation on average with this model.*

* Participation is measured by the average daily participation of free- and reduced-price school breakfast eaters / average daily participation free- and reduced-price school lunch eaters.

Solving the Problem with Breakfast After the Bell

Traditional school breakfast programs often have barriers that prohibit students from eating breakfast before school, such as:

  • Transportation: The school bus doesn’t arrive in time for kids to get breakfast in the cafeteria.
  • Busy mornings: Regardless of their socioeconomic status, many families are rushed in the morning and don’t always have time for breakfast at home.
  • Stigma: There is often a stigma associated with eating breakfast in the cafeteria before school starts; therefore, children avoid it, especially middle- and high-school students, for whom social status and the perceptions of their peers loom large. 
  • Lack of resources: For low-income families, there simply may not always be enough food at home for kids to have a healthy breakfast.

There are many ways to build support for BAB programs. Solutions include finding your champions and spreading the word on the benefits of BAB programs.

  • Breakfast After the Bell reaches more students than traditional cafeteria breakfast. Fewer than half the kids who get a free or reduced-price school lunch, on average, get a free or reduced-price breakfast.
  • Multiple barriers prevent students from accessing traditional cafeteria breakfast; Breakfast After the Bell addresses those barriers and enables more kids to start the day with a nutritious meal.
  • Kids who eat school breakfast are more likely to have a better overall diet. Students who participate daily in school breakfast are more likely to consume milk, whole grains, and fruit as part of their breakfast, compared to students who never or less frequently eat school breakfast.
  • Access to school breakfast is a racial equity issue. People of color deal with poverty and food insecurity at a much higher rate than white people. For example, Black people are two times more likely to experience poverty than the overall population of the United States. Breakfast After the Bell ensures all students have the opportunity to start their day fueled up and ready to learn.

For Teachers

  • Breakfast After the Bell does not take away from instructional time. Breakfast only takes 10-15 minutes for students to eat. When breakfast is served in the classroom, many teachers use the time to take attendance, collect homework, or make announcements.
  • Breakfast cleanup is quick and easy. School administrators, custodial staff and teachers work together to create a cleanup plan that is best for your classroom and the school. The plan may include placing extra trash bins in hallways and in classrooms so that students can quickly and responsibly dispose of their trash.
  • School breakfast is healthier than you may think. Schools participating in the National School Breakfast Program must adhere to nutrition guidelines provided by the USDA. Even though breakfast items provided to students at school sometimes look like the same breakfast items found in stores, school breakfast items often have more whole grains and less sugar, sodium, fat and calories.

Breakfast After the Bell Myths: Learn about Breakfast After the Bell (BAB) myths, and the facts that disprove them, with this resource. For example, learn how, despite the misconception, BAB does not cause mess or reduce instructional time.

For Principals

  • Breakfast After the Bell has the potential to decrease chronic absenteeism rates. Serving Breakfast After the Bell can reduce chronic absenteeism by 6 percentage points on average, based on a 2019 study commissioned by Share Our Strength.
  • You can choose the Breakfast After the Bell model that best fits your school’s needs. The three BAB models most effective at increasing participation in school breakfast are Breakfast in the Classroom, Grab N’ Go to the Classroom, and Second Chance Breakfast. Many schools operate a hybrid model that combines certain elements of these models. FRAC’s model guide can help you choose which model fits your school best.
  • Providing kids with breakfast improves test scores, reduces behavioral issues, and creates calmer classrooms. When kids eat breakfast they perform better on tests, exhibit fewer behavior problems, and visit the school nurse less often. Breakfast After the Bell gives more kids a chance to reap the benefits of breakfast and start the school day ready to learn.

Breakfast After the Bell Myths: Learn about Breakfast After the Bell (BAB) myths, and the facts that disprove them, with this resource. For example, learn how, despite the misconception, BAB does not cause mess or reduce instructional time.

For Superintendents

  • Breakfast After the Bell can increase participation and revenue. The more students that participate in the school breakfast program, the more federal reimbursement schools receive. Breakfast After the Bell has been shown to increase student participation in the school breakfast program. Feed more kids, bring in more money. These additional funds can be used to offset other school nutrition program costs.
  • Increased access to school breakfast can support improved academic achievement in subjects like reading. A national analysis found that, among young elementary school students, Breakfast in the Classroom was associated with a 1.5 percentage points statistically significant improvement in reading achievement.

Breakfast After the Bell Myths: Learn about Breakfast After the Bell (BAB) myths, and the facts that disprove them, with this resource. For example, learn how, despite the misconception, BAB does not cause mess or reduce instructional time.

Resources for Partners

We collaborate with schools and provide partners with necessary technical expertise, trainings, peer-to-peer support, research, and grants. We’re focused on the ways to increase the number of kids eating school meals by incorporating breakfast as part of the school day.

Last update: March 12, 2025