Monday, March 5, 2012

The Importance of a Good Breakfast


National School Breakfast Week

March 5th is the start of National School Breakfast Week. Working in schools and with students for as long as I have, I have learned that schools are about much more than just teaching reading, writing and math. Schools have become a community and an extension of the family.

Unfortunately, many families today struggle with day-to-day life and one of the things that seems to go by the wayside is providing a good breakfast for everyone in the family. When that happens, the school must step in and provide a healthy, nutritious breakfast for the students.


StarShine is very fortunate to have a long-term partnership with the Creighton School District in Phoenix. Creighton provides all of our students with a free breakfast, lunch and after school snack. In return, Creighton receives all of our National School Lunch funds. We also supplement lunches and snacks with vegetables from our school garden.

Statistically, students who start the day without breakfast lack the fuel needed to keep their bodies strong and their minds active. Students who do not eat a nutritious breakfast cannot concentrate in the same way that students who eat a healthy breakfast do. Data indicates that students who miss breakfast are more likely to be tardy and have more absences.

And of course, students who have a high absence rate are more likely to dropout. So it all come back to breakfast.

Below are several great resources and links about the importance of eating a healthy breakfast and National School Breakfast Week:

“A study from Philadelphia's Temple University found that 80% of school children reported eating breakfast regularly. Of those, 59% ate breakfast at home (mostly consuming breakfast cereal), 31% ate breakfast at school and 18% grabbed not-so-healthy breakfasts (like snack chips and soda) from a local store.” Read More: http://www.mrbreakfast.com/glossary_term.asp?glossaryID=152

“In an article for "Healthy Children," the magazine of the American Academy of Pediatrics, pediatrician William Cochran, M.D., says that up to 12 percent of school-aged children skip breakfast on a regular basis. Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/491308-statistics-does-breakfast-affect-your-school-performance/#ixzz1o5YrsYW3




If you enjoyed reading these motivational thoughts about schools, you’ll want to read: