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Breakfast as a Scholastic Tool

Breakfast as a Scholastic Tool We have often been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Growing up, however, we have simply brushed that comment aside labeling it as yet another useless and false piece of information we receive throughout the course of our lives. This particular piece, however, may bear more significant than was ever thought before. Researchers now believe that breakfast indeed is the most important meal of the day, resulting in academic and psychosocial improvements that last a lifetime. While many may have trouble believing that a piece of toast in the morning can produce increased academic performance as well as a healthy mind, the fact is it has been proven to be true. It is for this reason that the federal government should establish a universal free breakfast program for all secondary schools in the United States. For many years, the United States has recognized the fact that there is a major problem with its educational system. In an assessment of our nations high school seniors, “ a quarter of our seniors failed to reach even the basic level. In geography, about a third were below the basic level, while only about a quarter displayed proficiency. History showed the worst results. Over half the seniors were below the basic level and only 11% made the proficient level” (Stedman, 6). The education crisis in the United States has been clear for many years. Educators have been trying to find ways to stop the downward spiral of our nation’s youth. This downward spiral, however, has yet to be ceased while our students are tumbling into an educational abyss. The problem, moreover, is not simply that the students aren’t performing well. The main problem hinges on the fact that effective plans and legislation have yet to be implemented. Many have been tried; however, with the goal of the plan being to increase academic performance, they have all failed due to the lack of research on many of the implemented legislation. Goals 2000, for example, was a federal initiative to raise performance by increasing standards for the school. However, as we are almost at the end of the year 2000, these goals that were set have yet to be met. It is time to put our reliance in a program that has been proven to work; a universal free breakfast program (Stedman, 2- 12). Through many studies, breakfast has been proven to increase academic performance. “Breakfast consumption has been linked to improved preformance in mathematics, continuous performance tasks and problem solving” (Hyndman, 5). A study conducted in Canada also reports “ over 78% of teachers indicated that the program had a positive impact on the academic ability of their students” (Hyndman, 10). With these reported facts, it is obvious to see that involvement in a breakfast program would definitely yield results that could assist in solving the problem with academic achievement in our nation. The Maryland State Department of Education has already recognized this fact. Upon institution of a free pilot breakfast program, Maryland recognized that “over a two year period, schools that served breakfast in the classroom showed a twenty-two percent improvement in the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program, or MSPAP” (Maryland, 1). These results not only confirm the fact that breakfast produces higher gains on academic grounds, but also prove that the plan is very feasible. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that “research suggests that not having breakfast can affect children’s intellectual performance,” and that “even moderate under nutrition can have lasting effects on children’s cognitive development and school performance (Nutrition, 1). With concrete facts such as these, it is difficult to reject a plan that would increase the level of achievement in our schools and pull the United States out of the downward spiral it has been stuck in for years. It has been established by numerous studies that breakfast is strongly linked to academic performance. Upon knowing these facts, we find that it is now the responsibility of the United States to provide an answer to many of its educational problems by offering a free universal breakfast program. According to the Journal of the American Dietic Association, “schools and communities have a shared responsibility to provide children access to high quality foods and positive nutrition experiences that will have a lifelong impact on their health and education”(Local, 1). Nutrition definitely plays a large role in breakfast increasing academic performance; currently, there are strict regulations in place to ensure that if a federal program was started, that the food offered would be nutritious and healthy, leading to the intended results. Currently, school breakfasts must be planned to provide “one fourth and on third of the RDA’s, respectively, for protein, vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, and energy when analyzed over one week. In addition, limits on fat and saturated fat are in place to address Dietary Guidelines recommendations” (Nutrition, 1). With many strict regulations already in place, the basic framework for a federal breakfast program has already been established. It is now the responsibility of the federal government to carry through on its promise to improve our nation’s education, and set forth a free breakfast program for all students. With the need for a cure to our ailing education system, the government should indeed turn toward a breakfast program to solve many educational problems. High academic performance, however, is not the only benefit that breakfast can reap. Along with increased achievement in our schools, breakfast has also been shown to have a profound impact on a child’s cognitive skills and mental health. According to Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine, “kids who skip breakfast often have trouble concentrating and are more likely to be described as depressed, anxious, fidgety, or irritable by their teachers” (Frankenfield, 1). Skipping breakfast obviously has a strong link to academic, as well as emotional problems. The true alarming fact, however, is that “up to 37% of kids skip breakfast, causing them to get less that two thirds of the Recommended Daily Allowance for many vitamins and minerals” (Frankenfield, 1). With a great number of children skipping breakfast, it has become obvious that a great deal of our nation’s youth is in need of help. Offering free breakfast at schools would definitely help to solve these problems. Dr. J. Michael Murphy of the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School makes this prevalent when reporting the findings in his study: Four months after the schools started a free breakfast program in one Philadelphia and two Baltimore public schools, the number of students eating breakfast had nearly doubled and reports on the students indicated they were significantly more attentive in the classroom, earned higher grades in math, and had significantly fewer behavioral and emotional problems. (Harvard, 2) With many separate studies showing the benefit breakfast has on a child’s mental well being, it would be a crime not to institute a free breakfast program to ensure that our children get the needed boost for their academic and social lives. Many have not contested the results of the breakfast studies. However, many people are still wary of instituting a free breakfast program. The main argument that the opposition often raises is that a federal program would be unconstitutional. This argument indeed has much bearing. The constitution states that whatever is not specifically delegated to the federal government is thereby a state responsibility. Education, traditionally, has been a state responsibility. People have gone as far as claiming that such a program by the federal government is an intrusion on state rights and would eventually lead to tyranny. While education indeed has been the responsibility of the states, one must examine the state of education under the states. With an obvious need for a change in our system, a federal role is needed to ensure the future of our nation. What the opposition often fails to realize is the fact that many federal education programs have been tried before. A major example of that is the Goal 2000 initiative. Yet, after all these federal programs, no tyranny has occurred. And while the federal government may be intruding upon state grounds, its actions are protected by the general welfare clause in the constitution. Providing breakfast would only go to protecting the welfare of our children, thereby making it a justified act by the enacting a federal role in education. Murphy states “what your mom told you is true, eating a good breakfast really does make a difference....now the challenge is to ensure that each child actually gets a good breakfast” (School, 1). While the opposition’s arguments have a significant bearing, they are outweighed by the need to provide academic and emotional stability to our students. (Stedman, 7-15) The time has come to act. Numerous studies have shown the effects of breakfast on student achievement and well being. By initiating a free universal breakfast program for students, the federal government would be taking steps to solve the downward spiral of our nations educational system, as well as protecting the well being of its citizens. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that children are fed properly, and receive the proper tools to propel them to academic success. The research and findings have not been questioned; it is now simply a matter of willingness, on the federal governments side, to enact a plan that would not only solve for academic ailments, but also help feed hungry and undernourished children while improving their mental well-being. While many mothers have insisted for years that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it has now been scientifically proven. It is time the federal government takes this advice, and put it into action. Bibliography: Works Cited Frankenfield, Gay RN. “Kids Behavior: Only as Good as their Breakfast.” WebMD Medical News. 21 Sep 2000: 1-3. “Glickman Highlights Link Between Nutrition and Learning, Marks National School Breakfast Week.” US Departmant of Agriculture. 3 March 1999: 1-2. Hyndman, Brian, M.H.Sc. “Feeding the Body, Feeding the Mind: An Overview of School-Based Nutrition Programs in Canada.” Canadian Living Foundation. 7 Feb. 2000: 1-17. “Local Support for Nutrition Integrity in Schools- Postion of ADA.” Journal of the American Dietic Association. 2000: 1-8. “Maryland Students Prove Eating School Breakfast Improves Academic Performance.” Amercian School Food Service Association. 9 March 2000: 1. “New Harvard Research Shows School Breakfast Program May Improve Children’s Behavior and Performance.” Kid Source. 2 March 1998: 1-3. “Nutrition and the Health of Young People.” National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. 31 March 2000: 1-4. “School Breakfast Participation Leads to Academic, Psychosocial Improvements.” Massachusetts General Hospital. 14 Sep. 1998: 1-3. Stedman, Lawrence. “Respecting the Evidence: The Achievement Crisis Remains Real.” Education Policy Analysis Archives. 4 April 1996: 1-35. “USDA Pilot Project to Offer Free Breakfast to School Children.” Amercian School Food Service Association. 15 May 2000: 1-2.

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