The federal School Breakfast Program provides a rare trifecta of benefits: it fosters academic achievement, routes federal funds to public school districts, and supports student health, including healthy body weight. Recent concerns that some students may be eating two breakfasts (one at school and one elsewhere) have called into question the benefits of serving Classroom Breakfast. While there are currently no robust studies that show the extent and impact of students eating “double breakfast” through the Classroom Breakfast model, the detriment of missing breakfast is incontrovertible.
- Students who don’t eat breakfast are more likely to be obese or overweight compared with their peers who eat breakfast.
- Students who don’t eat breakfast demonstrate poorer cognitive function than their more well-nourished peers.
- Students who don’t eat breakfast have overall diets that are less healthy compared with students who eat breakfast.
- Moreover, research shows that breakfasts served at school are often more nutritious than breakfasts served at home or elsewhere.
Access study citations and read CFPA’s full statement on Classroom Breakfast. PDF
