Happy National School Breakfast Week! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and critical in ensuring kids have the nutrition they need to learn and grow. This year, we’re celebrating #NSBW23 by highlighting how school breakfast changes lives, and the school nutrition professionals at the heart of it.
By feeding kids a healthy school breakfast, schools are providing the foundation for kids to succeed. School breakfast is intertwined with student success. Studies show that kids who eat school breakfast are more likely to excel academically, be more alert, and have better concentration, memory and attendance and fewer behavior problems. School breakfast is a win for families too and can help lighten the load during busy weekday mornings.
The benefits of school breakfast are compounding and have the ability to affect children now and their futures. Check out these fast facts about school breakfast below, and for additional information and the research behind these facts, click here.
School Breakfast Facts
- Students with regular access to nutritious food tend to have significantly lower levels of behavioral, emotional and educational problems.
- Students who eat breakfast have significantly higher test scores in spelling, reading, and math.
- Providing students with breakfast in the classroom helps to reduce chronic absenteeism by 6%.
- Students who attend class more regularly are 20% more likely to graduate from high school.
- High school graduates on average earn $10,000 more annually and have a higher employment rate.
Celebrations Across Indiana
To continue to raise awareness around the lasting benefits of school breakfast, No Kid Hungry Indiana is celebrating National School Breakfast Week by highlighting the great work our inaugural School Breakfast Champion Cohort is doing to increase breakfast participation. For example, Merrillville Community School Corporation is providing free school breakfast for all students this week!
Other school districts are celebrating NSBW with their own breakfast-themed events, such as in River Forest Community School Corporation (pictured below).
Feeding kids today is one of the smartest investments we can make to ensure they’re ready to face the challenges of tomorrow. As we celebrate the importance of school breakfast this week, we want to say THANK YOU to the critical role all school nutrition professionals play in helping children succeed in and out of the classroom.