{"id":67,"date":"2021-08-16T21:29:49","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T21:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/north-carolina\/?page_id=67"},"modified":"2022-07-28T19:50:59","modified_gmt":"2022-07-28T19:50:59","slug":"school-breakfast","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/north-carolina\/school-breakfast\/","title":{"rendered":"School Breakfast"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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School Breakfast in North Carolina<\/h2>

More than a quarter million NC public school students<\/strong>\u00a0who qualify for free and reduced-price meals eat school lunch, but not school breakfast \u2014 even though it is available to them, and they likely need it.<\/p>

But that number is shrinking.\u00a0Since No Kid Hungry NC started in 2011, the percentage of free and reduced price-eligible students eating school lunch who are also eating school breakfast has grown from about 40% to almost 60%\u00a0\u2014 a powerful indicator that school breakfast is becoming more accessible for students.<\/span><\/p>

No Kid Hungry NC’s school breakfast program success stories include the NC School Breakfast Challenge<\/a>, and the 2018-19 Breakfast After the Bell Initiative grants<\/a> with the Office of the Governor and other partners.<\/span><\/p>

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Innovative Breakfast After the Bell Methods<\/h2><\/div>

Many barriers stand between students and eating school breakfast, from transportation to cafeteria logistics to stigma.\u00a0Innovative Breakfast After the Bell methods<\/a>\u00a0of serving school breakfast\u00a0\u2014<\/span>\u00a0including Breakfast in the Classroom, Grab and Go, and Second Chance Breakfast\u00a0\u2014<\/span>\u00a0can break down these barriers. No Kid Hungry NC is working with nutrition directors, principals, superintendents, and more to implement these creative, low-cost ways of increasing school breakfast participation across the state.<\/p>

Breakfast After the Bell makes breakfast a part of the school day for all students, and is proven to raise participation levels on average to as high as 90 percent. And the more students who eat school breakfast, the more students getting the benefits of starting their day with a healthy meal: better academic performance, more days of school attended, fewer discipline issues, and fewer tardies.<\/p>

These methods are designed to increase access to the\u00a0School Breakfast Program<\/a>, which\u00a0is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and plays a crucial role in making sure kids get the food they need to focus and excel in the classroom.<\/p>

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What’s the Impact of School Breakfast?<\/span><\/h2>

Research shows that school breakfast is good for kids, classroom, and communities. Children who eat a good breakfast tend to perform between in school, have better attendance, and exhibit fewer behavior problems.<\/span><\/p>

Here are five ways school breakfast benefits kids:<\/p>

  1. Higher Test Scores: Hunger makes school harder. Students who eat school breakfast achieve higher scores on standardized tests.<\/li>
  2. 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.<\/li>
  3. 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.<\/li>
  4. 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.<\/li>
  5. Maximizes Our Country\u2019s Future: When children are hungry, they struggle to grow up into strong, healthy and productive members of our society. This comes at a massive cost to the American economy and its potential.<\/li><\/ol>

    Every time we feed a child, we\u2019re unlocking their ability to grow up to become the next future teachers, scientists and entrepreneurs. To learn more, the Study on Chronic Absenteeism and Breakfast After the Bell<\/a> is new research that shows the impact serving breakfast as part of the school day has on student outcomes. In addition, the No Kid Hungry Starts with Breakfast<\/a> report describes a social impact analysis that examines the impact school breakfast has on kids and classrooms.<\/p>

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    Fast Facts<\/h2>

    Pre-pandemic:<\/p>