How important is breakfast to our school kids? An Allies for Children report links breakfast to learning.

At Grandview Upper Elementary, Principal Kimberly Price sees the school’s breakfast program as the safe, friendly beginning of a focused, engaged morning of learning.

“Students start the day eating together,” Price says. “Knowing there is always enough food seems to help our students relax and focus on their most important jobs: learning and growing.”

At Highlands School District, where Price works, the number of students eating breakfast grew from 170 to 465 since the program began at the start of the 2015-16 school year. That figure is just one revealing statistic uncovered in a recent report on school breakfast consumption in Allegheny County.

Allies for Children, a local nonprofit dedicated to putting the needs and interests of children at the center of policy discussions, released the study in conjunction with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. The report highlights how changes in school policy can increase the number of breakfasts served and ultimately, how policy changes can help combat childhood hunger. Data was obtained through interviews and on-site observations at schools using alternative breakfast models.

Researchers point to schools serving breakfasts as a tool in improving educational environments, helping children learn and enhancing overall health. Erika Fricke, Allies for Children health policy director, points out that “adults who care about the health and education of children identify school breakfast as a key component of student’s overall learning, so we already knew our goal: to make sure children eat. The study helped show us what’s happening now and what schools could try differently. We heard from schools that trying alternative breakfast models can be difficult at first, but can work wonderfully once the kinks get worked out. We also learned that serving breakfast beyond the traditional few minutes before school in the cafeteria can increase the number of breakfasts served–sometimes dramatically.”

School districts vary greatly in the percentage of breakfasts served, and within a single district, wide variation can occur. The report highlights how Pittsburgh Public Schools has implemented the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), an option that allows schools with high poverty rates the chance to serve free breakfast to all students.

CEP eliminates the application for free and reduced meals and therefore can reduce the stigma associated with program participation. At the same time, administrative costs for schools are reduced. Food service employees no longer need to collect unpaid fees from families, a job they never wanted in the first place. Allegheny County districts not participating in CEP stand to lose hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, in uncollected bills annually.

Out of the top 10 school districts for breakfast consumption in Allegheny County, nine rely on CEP to finance their breakfast programs. Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the Allegheny County Health Department, recognizes that “healthy eating is critical for all children and providing meals at school is one important way to help all of our children, particularly the most vulnerable, succeed academically while also improving their health.”

Out of 73 large school districts surveyed in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Public Schools was one of only 23 districts that hit the desired target of 70 low-income students eating school breakfast for every 100 low-income students eating school lunch.

Within Allegheny County, 58 individual schools met this goal, witnessing an overall increase in the number of students participating in school breakfast programs.