WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Herb Kohl and Congresswoman Gwen Moore introduced a resolution stressing the positive impact school breakfast programs have on students and schools.  The resolution comes just as school districts across the country prepare to celebrate ‘National School Breakfast Week’ - March 7-11, 2011.  According to the School Nutrition Association, “National School Breakfast Week has been raising awareness for the program and the links between eating a good breakfast, academic achievement and healthy lifestyles since 1989.”

Kohl is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s nutrition programs, including the School Breakfast Program. Last August, Senator Kohl worked to include the Student Breakfast and Education Act in the Senate version of the comprehensive child nutrition bill, while Congresswoman Moore led a similar effort in the House of Representatives. This competitive grant program – included in the child nutrition reauthorization - aims to help local education agencies and schools improve access to healthy breakfasts for school-aged children.  Studies have shown that children who eat a school breakfast perform better in the classroom and have better attendance in school.

Text of the resolution can be found below:

Whereas participants in the school breakfast program established by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) include public, private, elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as rural, suburban, and urban schools;

Whereas in each of the school years beginning July 1, 2008, and July 1, 2009, 86.3 percent of schools that participated in the school lunch program established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) also participated in the school breakfast program;

Whereas in each of the school years beginning July 1, 2008, and July 1, 2009, approximately 10,800,000 students in more than 86,000 schools participated in the school breakfast program on a typical day;

Whereas in fiscal year 2009, approximately 9,100,000 low-income children in the United States consumed free or reduced price school breakfasts on an average school day;

Whereas for every 100 children receiving free and reduced price lunches, approximately 47 children receive free and reduced price breakfasts;

Whereas in each of the school years beginning July 1, 2008, and July 1, 2009, less than half of eligible low-income children received breakfasts at school each day;

Whereas in fiscal year 2009, 62 percent of school lunches served, and 81 percent of school breakfasts served, were served to students who qualified for free or reduced priced meals;

Whereas the current economic situation (including the increase in families living below the poverty line) is causing more families to struggle to feed their children and to turn to schools for assistance;

Whereas implementing or improving classroom breakfast programs has been shown to increase the participation of eligible students in breakfast consumption dramatically, doubling, and in some cases tripling, numbers, as evidenced by research conducted in the States of Minnesota, New York, and Wisconsin;

Whereas making breakfast widely available through different venues or combinations, such as in the classroom, obtained as students exit a school bus, or outside the classroom, has been shown to lessen the stigma of receiving free or reduced price breakfasts, which often deters eligible students from obtaining traditional breakfasts in the cafeteria;

Whereas providing free universal breakfasts, especially in the classroom, has been shown to significantly increase school breakfast participation rates and decrease absences and tardiness;

Whereas studies have shown that access to nutritious meals under the school lunch program and the school breakfast program helps to create a strong learning environment for children and helps to improve the concentration of children in the classroom;

Whereas providing breakfast in the classroom has been shown in several instances to improve attentiveness and academic performance, while reducing tardiness and disciplinary referrals;

Whereas students who eat a complete breakfast have been shown to make fewer mistakes and work faster in math exercises than students who eat a partial breakfast;

Whereas studies suggest that eating breakfast closer to classroom and test-taking time improves student performance on standardized tests relative to students who skip breakfasts;

Whereas studies show that students who skip breakfasts are more likely to have difficulty distinguishing among similar images, show increased errors, and have slower memory recall;

Whereas children who live in families that experience hunger have been shown to be more likely to have lower math scores, face an increased likelihood of repeating a grade, and receive more special education services;

Whereas studies suggest that children who eat breakfasts have more adequate nutrition and intake of nutrients, such as calcium, fiber, protein, and vitamins A, E, D, and B-6;

Whereas studies show that children who participate in school breakfast programs eat more fruits, drink more milk, and consume less saturated fat than children who do not eat breakfast;

Whereas children who fail to eat breakfasts, whether in school or at home, are more likely to be overweight than children who eat a healthy breakfast on a daily basis; and

Whereas March 7 through March 11, 2011, is National School Breakfast Week: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate—

(1) recognizes the importance of the school breakfast program established by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) and the overall positive impact of the program on the lives of low-income children and families, as well as the effect of the program on helping to improve the overall classroom performance of a child;

(2) expresses support for States that have successfully implemented school breakfast programs in order to improve the test scores and grades of participating students;

(3) encourages States—

(A) to strengthen school breakfast programs by improving access for students;

(B) to promote improvements in the nutritional quality of breakfasts served; and

(C) to inform students and parents of healthy nutritional and lifestyle choices;

(4) recognizes that the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–296) and amendments made by that Act provide low-income children with greater access to a nutritious breakfast nationwide;

(5) recognizes the impact of nonprofit and community organizations that work to increase awareness of, and access to, breakfast programs for low-income children; and

(6) recognizes that National School Breakfast Week celebrated from March 7 through March 11, 2011, helps draw attention to the need for, and success of, the school breakfast program.