Healthy Eating Helps You Make the Grade

A recent State of Minnesota Breakfast Study found that students who ate breakfasts before starting school had a general increase in math grades and reading scores, increased student attention, reduced nurse visits, and improved student behaviors.  (December, 1997)

Researchers at Harvard Medical/Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston found that hungry children are more likely to have behavioral and academic problems than children who get enough to eat.  At school, hungry children had more problems with irritability, anxiety and aggression, as well as more absences and tardiness.  (Pediatrics, January, 1998; Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, February, 1998)

The recent Tufts University Statement 1998 on The Link Between Nutrition and Cognitive Development in Children cites new findings: "Recent research provides compelling evidence that undernutrition impacts the behavior of children, their school performance, and their overall cognitive development"

The School Breakfast Scorecard, October 1997, produced by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) contains data and explanations to assist in evaluating efforts in the 50 states and the District of Columbia to ensure availability of breakfasts in schools to children who might otherwise go without a meal.  The scorecard covers the 1996-97 school year.

USDA's School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study (1993) showed that School Breakfast Program meals are nutritionally superior to other breakfasts, including breakfasts at home, on many key nutrients.

A 1989 study published in the American Journal of Diseases of Children found that "Participation in the School Breakfast Program is associated with significant improvements in academic functioning among low-income elementary school children."