Breakfast Decisions

Breakfast-skipping and selecting low-nutritional-quality foods for breakfast are common among low-income urban children, regardless of food security status

Children who eat breakfast regularly show higher intakes of key food groups, like fruit and dairy, better overall diet adequacy, and more likely to meet recommendations for intakes of essential micronutrients. Habitual breakfast consumption also has been seen to lower the prevalence of obesity among in children. Beyond nutrition, breakfast consumption has also been seen to promote positive cognitive and academic outcomes (higher grades, better school attendance). Although there are so many benefits to eating breakfast, it is the most commonly skipped meal of the day. The School Breakfast Program (SBP) is an initiative used to ensure low-income children who may not have access to food consistently have the chance to easily access food. Although SBP participation has increased, the numbers are still lower than desired. In order to increase number, some schools have decided to allow breakfast consumption within the classroom or offering more quick breakfast options. Previous studies have mostly focused on breakfast consumption and food security status. This study decided to focus on breakfast behaviors including breakfast skipping, location, food choices, and participation among a sample of predominately low-income middle schoolers who have access to SBP. This study found that despite universal access to SBP, 16.9% of participants reported skipping breakfast on the morning of data collection. Also, students only consumed school breakfast on 31.2% of possible school days. Findings suggest that Universal School Breakfast does not sufficiently remove the barriers to SBP participation. One barrier to participation could be a student’s inability to arrive to school early enough to consume breakfast. Many schools are encouraged to consider a “grab and go” option to help promote consumption. Breakfast in the classroom has been shown to increase participation 2-to 4-fold. Modifying menus to more closely align with student preferences in conjunction with reducing time barriers and stigma may increase participation. Students are still customers, and their input should be valued. Take home message from this study? To note that the high proportion of breakfast skipping, consuming food from corner stores in the morning, and consuming low nutritional quality foods suggests that all students would benefit from nutrition intervention to improve breakfast quality, regardless of food security status.

Dykstra, H., Davey, A., Fisher, J. O., Polonsky, H., Sherman, S., Abel, M. L., ... & Bauer,       K. W. (2016). Breakfast-skipping and selecting low-nutritional-quality foods      for breakfast are common among low-income urban children, regardless of   food security status. The Journal of nutrition, 146(3), 630-636.

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