Agricultural News
School Breakfast Programs Improve Student Learning, Classroom Behavior
Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:24:55 CDT
Dayle Hayes, author, educator and registered dietician, was recently in Tulsa to speak with Oklahoma dieticians at their annual meeting. A major portion of Hayes' recent work is focused on the effects of nutrition on learning in the classroom. Working closely with the dairy industry, Hayes travels the country to speak about research which clearly shows a link between good nutrition and positive classroom outcomes.
"The statistics show that about one in four children in Oklahoma is food insecure, meaning that there may be times when there isn't food in the home for them to either have supper or breakfast."
Hayes says that is significant for school-aged children because, "Hungry children cannot learn. So, if children come to school without having eaten they are unable to focus in the classroom, they are not able to concentrate on learning and, in fact, it affects their behaviors."
With the help of the USDA, schools across the country have begun participating in the School Breakfast Program. The USDA says the program is now serving 12 million children every school day.
The impact has been positive not only for the individual student, but also positive on the school as a whole, Hayes says.
"It's really a matter of not only helping to fill some nutrition gaps, in other words providing them with nutrients the need, more importantly, from the viewpoint of the school, it's helping to fill some achievement gaps. Making sure that kids going to the classroom are ready to learn."
She says schools that offer a school breakfast program see immediate results.
"One of the most interesting statistics is that when you serve breakfast at school it reduces both absences and tardiness. I know that all over the country folks are worried about graduation rates, kids being at school and being able to learn. And when you serve breakfast it's sort of like, you know, 'If you feed them, they will come.'"
Hayes says the results in the Tulsa Public Schools have been tremendous and show the program is a wise investment.
"When they instituted breakfast in the classroom-that means when children come in they get their breakfast, they sit down at their desks--their teacher is already reading to them, talking to them about the day while they're eating. When they did that, attendance went up about five percent. Their disciplinary write ups went down about 70 percent. And their first hour tardies were also down about 25 percent. So it is an investment in making sure kids are at school, that they are there on time and that, as I said, they are able to focus and be ready to learn in the classroom. And I think that's what all of us want for children that they are able to take advantage of what we're doing in terms of education in our schools."
Hayes says she cannot emphasize enough the importance of a good breakfast. She says the habit of eating a good, balanced breakfast actually fights obesity.
"Children and adults who eat breakfast tend to have healthier weights. People may be wondering what kind of breakfast we may be talking about. Well, when you serve a school breakfast, it always has a milk component to it, it always has a grain and more and more those are whole grain cereals, whole grain muffins, and then it also has a fruit or a vegetable. Children really are getting a balance of nutrients and, because they've eaten breakfast, they don't tend to be as hungry throughout the day and that's probably the main reason that breakfast helps with a healthy weight."
Hayes says milk and dairy products are recognized as a key portion of a solid breakfast.
"What I tell people is that three of the four nutrients of concern in the United States, in other words nutrients we are not getting enough of, three of those are found in dairy foods. That's calcium, vitamin D and potassium."
The USDA requires schools to serve dairy products in their breakfast programs to qualify for reimbursement. Hayes says schools take a number of different approaches to providing dairy options. She says schools she's worked with have offered everything from milk to breakfast parfaits with yogurt to cheese sandwiches to breakfast burrito bars featuring cheese.
With the school breakfast program providing such positive effects for children who may not have adequate access to nutritious foods, some worry that gains made in the classroom during the year may be lost during the summer.
To address those concerns, Hayes says, the Summer Feeding Program was established. She says in Billings, Montana, lunch is offered to children in the city's parks. Anyone from two to 18 who shows up can have a free lunch.
"Last summer I volunteered several times and, again, I know this is hard for some people to hear, you know, pretty young kids, seven- or eight-year-olds bringing their younger siblings to have lunch in the park because there wasn't food available in the house."
"You know, we can talk all we want about parental responsibility and the need for parents to do those kinds of things, but I think when we get into situations like this we really need to step up to the plate and make sure, especially in school, children have what they need to learn and maybe to get out of the cycle their family has been in."
Hayes says she's proud to work with Dairy Max and Midwest Dairy to get the word out about the benefits of a healthy diet including dairy products.
Press the LISTEN BAR below to hear Ron Hays' full interview with Dayle Hayes.
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