Breakfast is such an important part of the day. It was never more apparent than when I spent my mornings in my Kindergarten classroom with 22 little ones. As a teacher, I was always conscious of how my little learners were feeling each day, especially upon arrival. I remember my “Breakfast Bunch” entering the classroom with a positive energy each morning. I believe this energy stemmed naturally from fueling up with a nutritious breakfast. It was the perfect balance of routine, social time with friends, and yummy food that gave them the healthiest start for the day. Luckily, Grab and Go breakfast options are available at more schools nationwide, allowing kids who get to school a little bit later than others to have a quick Breakfast in the Classroom. In my experience, brains function so much better with the best nutrition!
I was pleased to recently learn more about the Fuel Up to Play 60 program—an in-school health and wellness program created by National Dairy Council and NFL, in collaboration with the USDA. Fuel Up to Play 60 encourages kids to be healthy by following nutritional guidelines and incorporating play and exercise into their daily lives. Fuel Up to Play 60 works with schools to make school breakfast more accessible to kids—in fact, they recently announced $35 million in grants aimed at helping schools update or upgrade their existing kitchen equipment together with the USDA, GENYOUth Foundation and the NFL.
A Fuel Up to Play 60 event took place recently in Delaware in celebration of National School Breakfast Week. The local event took place at Misspillon Elementary School in Milford. Many local dignitaries from State Representative Harvey Kenton and Mayor Bryan Shupe, to Department of Education representatives were in attendance for this celebratory event. They even had professional football player Beau Allen of the Philadelphia Eagles in attendance! After a delicious and nutritious meal, he teamed up with students to deliver the morning announcements. Students from grades 3 to 5 joined Beau in the gym, where 11 fifth grade FUTP 60 team members presented a play titled Achieving Dreams. The play was written and produced by the FUTP 60 team. Achieving Dreams addressed the importance of school breakfast and how this meal helped support the professional dreams of 10 students, including a doctor on staff at Johns Hopkins, NFL standout, a teacher and an American Idol winner. Beau then addressed the students, talking about the importance of healthy eating, including breakfast, and 60 minutes of daily physical activity. Students had the opportunity to learn more about Beau during a Q&A session.
Why so much emphasis on school breakfast?
• Three out of four K-8 public school teachers that were surveyed about breakfast reported that their students regularly show up to school hungry. *
• Breakfast at school offers kids a chance to share a meal with classmates and friends.
• Not all kids have nutritious breakfast available to them at home. Approximately one in five households with kids struggle at some point during the year to put food on the table. **
• School breakfast may lead to improved academic performance. ***
It’s easy to see why (school) breakfast is the most important meal of the day!
So what can we do as parents and teachers?
• Visit FuelUpToPlay60.com to learn more about the importance of school breakfast.
• Access Playbook resources such as Breakfast – Anytime, Anywhere and A Hero’s Breakfast to help encourage your local school to start a breakfast program or implement alternative breakfast service models.
• Find out if your school is enrolled in Fuel Up to Play 60. If not, learn how to get involved.
• Join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Just follow #FuelGreatness.
To read more about the event there’s a great article from Milford Live available.
Check out how the program is helping making breakfast time fun, too!
https://youtu.be/J81sIjaUH-Q
The author was compensated for this article. All opinions are her own.
* “Hunger In Our Schools.” 1st ed. Washington: No Kid Hungry, 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
** Felling, Christy. "STATEMENT: Share Our Strength's Bill Shore on New USDA Food Insecurity Numbers | www.nokidhungry.org." STATEMENT: Share Our Strength's Bill Shore on New USDA Food Insecurity Numbers | www.nokidhungry.org. No Kid Hungry, 4 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
*** Adolphus, Katie, Clare L. Lawton, and Louise Dye. "The Effects of Breakfast on Behavior and Academic Performance in Children and Adolescents." Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Frontiers Media S.A., 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.
