Released November 13, 2008
MADISON, WIS.--The University of Wisconsin-Extension and the state Department of Public Instruction are challenging Wisconsin schools to increase their student participation in school breakfast programs by 50 percent during the 2008-09 school year.
“Providing all school age students with the opportunity to eat breakfast has many benefits—students are more alert and ready to learn, less disruptive and perform better academically,” says Julia E. Salomon, school breakfast specialist with UW-Extension’s Family Living Programs.
Family Living Programs and the Department of Public Instruction have collaborated to help school districts start new breakfast programs or improve existing ones throughout the state. The partnership will continue in its efforts to work with schools to increase school breakfast participation by 50 percent in schools that currently have a program, as well as work to implement new programs in schools that do not offer breakfast.
Despite some outstanding increases in school breakfast participation across the state in the last couple of years, Wisconsin still falls short in school and student participation compared to national averages.
“The breakfast challenge may provide the impetus schools need to start a program if they currently don’t offer breakfast, or for schools to develop strategies that increase student participation in their existing programs,” explains Salomon.
In addition to efforts by schools and the partnership between UW-Extension and DPI to increase school breakfast participation in Wisconsin, a grant program initiated by U.S. Senator Herb Kohl and designed to help schools either implement or enhance existing breakfast programs has been instrumental in increasing school breakfast participation in Wisconsin in the last few years.
“The link between good nutrition and a child’s ability to learn is incredibly important. It troubles me to imagine children in Wisconsin, or anywhere in the nation, whose success in the classroom is diminished by hunger,” says Senator Kohl. “That’s why I’ve made school lunch and school breakfast a priority and will continue to do so in the future.”
Eating breakfast not only benefits children’s ability to learn, but also improves the quality of a child’s diet, may decrease their risk of being overweight and improves their mood and behavior. However, not all students eat breakfast at home.
“Students often cite not having enough time in the morning to eat at home, not being hungry first thing in the morning and not having enough food at home as the main reasons for not eating breakfast. School breakfast programs overcome these barriers and ensure that all school age children have access to a nutritious meal that contributes to their success in school,” adds Salomon.
For more information about the breakfast challenge, please visit http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/fns/brkchlng.html.
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