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Running Head: BREAKFAST IN THE CLASSROOM

Breakfast in the Classroom: A Review of the Literature Michelle Esparza University of Texas at El Paso Salas, English 1312

BREAKFAST IN THE CLASSROOM

The recent passing of the Child Nutrition Act has revitalized legislatures efforts to serve healthier school lunches in public schools and raise awareness of the child obesity epidemic. Through this movement, a new federally funded program called Breakfast in the Classroom is being picked up by public elementary schools all across the nation. The program consists of serving low-fat milk, a main breakfast dish, and a fruit or fruit juice. Students receive their breakfast in the classroom during the first 30 minutes of the school day. Conflicting points of views from legislatures, educators, health professionals, and parents have come up in the implementation of Breakfast in the Classroom, in order to better understand these differences; the following four questions will be answered. How do you define child malnutrition? What are the reasons behind offering breakfast in the classroom? Should schools offer breakfast in the classroom? What are the consequences of breakfast in the classroom? The following literature review will answer these questions and provide information about Breakfast in the Classroom. How do you define child malnutrition? Child malnutrition can be defined two different ways according to ABC 13 Channel (2012). It can be defined through children who are not receiving a minimum ideal amount of proteins, calories, and fats. These are children who do not eat three meals a day and whose diet lacks in essential fruits and vegetables. These children are likely to have a lower than average BMI and be underweight for their age group and height.

BREAKFAST IN THE CLASSROOM

The second way a malnourished child could be described is a child who receives and excess amount of proteins, calories, and fats. These children are usually described as obese or overweight and are likely to eat more than three times a day and intake very unhealthy snacks and junk food. Both forms of malnutrition endanger the future health of a child if their eating habits to do not change for the better. What are the reasons behind offering breakfast in the classroom? There are many factors behind why legislatures have implemented breakfast in the classroom. Studies show that a large amount of elementary public school students do not eat breakfast; the causes of this is commonly because low-income families cannot provide breakfast for their children. Also, the federal government has taken into consideration that school meals might be the only nutritional meals that a child will receive throughout the week. In serving students breakfast in class, school districts hope to give their students a good sense of nutrition and help teach them good eating habits. Other related studies also show how missing breakfast can affect a childs academic performance and cognitive function, therefore giving schools even more of a reason for breakfast in class. The results of an American School Health Association study done by Basch, C. E. (2011) shows Skipping breakfast is highly and disproportionately prevalent among school-aged urban minority youth, it has a negative impact on academic achievement by adversely affecting cognition and absenteeism High-quality universal breakfast programs that allow students to eat breakfast in the classroom are especially needed for youth who are not likely to get good nutrition the rest of the day. (1) There are many reasonable causes to implement Breakfast in the classroom that would positively affect many students. Although, all of the reasons to offer breakfast in the classroom

BREAKFAST IN THE CLASSROOM

are only considered for the children that come from a low-income family who do not receive nutritional meals at home. When Breakfast in the Classroom was created, all of the children who do receive nutritional meals at home, or even those who receive an excess of food at home were not considered to the same extent as the others. According to Florida Dairy (2012) children that go to school hungry are more likely to be hyperactive, absent or tardy, and have behavioral and attention problems more often than the children who go to school having eaten breakfast already. (3) These studies have thoroughly proved the importance of children eating breakfast. Therefore, it is easy to see why so many school districts have decided to have Breakfast in the Classroom in their schools. Should schools offer breakfast in the classroom? Legislatures, politicians, parents, and educators are torn between whether schools should offer breakfast in the classroom. This question is controversial because of how child malnutrition is defined. One reason to offer breakfast in the classroom would be to feed those children who are malnourished because they are underfed or are not receiving proper nutrients. On the other hand, some professional nutritionists believe that breakfast in the classroom will increase obesity in the children who are malnourished in the sense that they receive an excess of food at home. A study done in Maryland by Gross, S. M., Bronner, Y., Welch, C., Dewberry-Moore, N., & Paige, D. M. (2004) about the meal skipping patterns of fourth-grade students found that school meals are childrens main source of fresh fruits and vegetables. (p.17) this finding supports the implementation of breakfast in the classroom. It shows that the meals that children receive in school are commonly their main source of fresh produce which is essential to their diets and energy as growing children.

BREAKFAST IN THE CLASSROOM

On the other hand, Grynbaum (2012) wrote, New York Citys health department hit
the pause button after a study found that the Breakfast in the Classroom program was problematic because some children might be inadvertently taking in excess calories by eating in multiple locations. (p. 5) Many school districts have not considered the children who are receiving an excess amount of food, therefore further increasing obesity in some children. Because of the diversity in these students nutritional needs, it is difficult for school districts and legislatures to decide whether Breakfast in the Classroom is worth feeding those who need it, or overfeeding those who dont.

What are the consequences of breakfast in the classroom? According to studies done about the effects of breakfast in the classroom, the positive consequences outweigh the negative for schools that are located in low-income areas. For schools with very high-income families, the consequences of breakfast in class are exactly the opposite. Basch (2011) describes that serving breakfast in class would increase breakfast intake in students by an approximate 20%. (p. 7) these are very promising results if a low-income school is looking to better nutrition their students. Breakfast in the classroom would also improve their students focus in the classroom. For low-income students there are many positive consequences in being served breakfast in class. In many cases, these students do not eat breakfast before coming to school and maybe only a small dinner the night before, especially during the times of recession. Also, the contents of a school breakfast is a very well balanced meal that includes fresh vegetables or fruit juice and that might be the childs only source to a well-balanced meal.

BREAKFAST IN THE CLASSROOM

Some of the negative consequences of breakfast in the classroom include, the funding for public education has been down sized, therefore making breakfast in the classroom an added expense to state and/or school districts budgets. And another negative effect that has not been actively discussed is the amount of time it takes away from instructional time in the classroom. Many school districts are having a hard time finding the room to pay for breakfast in the classroom and squeezing it in to an average 8 hour school day, when it takes 30-45 minutes to serve breakfast in class. Santos (2011) states, districts are required to start bringing their
prices in line with what it costs to prepare the meals, and the healthier the meal, the more expensive it is to prepare.

Conclusion Breakfast in the classroom has been implemented in many schools across the nation, bringing along discussions and controversy about the effectiveness of the program. Many studies have proved the positive effects of serving breakfast to children who are not able to receive breakfast at home, and how beneficial school balanced meals are to their energy, mind, and body. But, discussions among health professionals and school districts have questioned the worthiness of the program due to feeding some children an excess amount of food for the children who do eat well at home then again at school, the cost of funding the program, and the instructional time it takes away from class. Due to the diverse nutritional needs of individual children, many things about Breakfast in the Classroom must still be further acknowledged and analyzed.

BREAKFAST IN THE CLASSROOM

References Abc13channel. (November 15, 2012). Special report: kids health matters: School nutrition. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaJp8ZlwODU Alderman, L. (November 5, 2010). Putting nutrition at the head of the school lunch line. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/06/health/06 Basch, C. E. (2011). Breakfast and the Achievement Gap Among Urban Minority Youth. Journal Of School Health, 81(10), 635-640. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00638 Florida Dairy. (May 14, 2012). Breakfast in the classroom. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agc_xfv5zjQ Gross, S. M., Bronner, Y., Welch, C., Dewberry-Moore, N., & Paige, D. M. (2004). Breakfast and lunch meal skipping patterns among fourth-grade children from selected public schools in urban, suburban, and rural Maryland. Journal Of The American Dietetic Association, 104(3), 420-423. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2003.12.014 Grynbaum, M. (April 19, 2012). With classroom breakfasts, a concern that some children eat twice. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20 nyregion Robinson-O'Brien, R., Burgess-Champoux, T., Haines, J., Hannan, P. J., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2010). Associations Between School Meals Offered Through the National School Lunch program and the School Breakfast Program and Fruit and Vegetable Intake Among Ethnically Diverse, Low-Income Children. Journal Of School Health, 80(10), 487-492. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2010.00532 Santos, F. (September 19, 2011). Public schools face the rising costs of serving lunch. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/education/20lunch

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