Nutrition Education
Did You Know...
New Hampshire SAU data reveals that for every 100 students eating school lunch, an average of 22 students participate in school breakfast. Portsmouth offers free breakfast to everyone who qualifies for a free or reduced lunch.
New Hampshire ranks 50th nationally for student participation in the School Breakfast.
Expanding and strengthening these existing School Breakfast Programs offer measurable benefits to both students and SAUs.
Benefits of Breakfast
- Eating breakfast can help improve math, reading, and standardized test scores.
- Children who eat breakfast are more likely to behave better in school and get along with their peers than those who do not.
- Breakfast helps children pay attention, perform problem-solving tasks, and improves memory.
- Children who eat school breakfast are likely to have fewer absences and incidents of tardiness than those who do not.
- By eating breakfast, students get more of important nutrients, vitamins and minerals such as calcium, dietary fiber, folate and protein.
- Studies have shown that children who eat breakfast on a regular basis are less likely to be overweight.
- Eating breakfast as a child is important for establishing healthy habits for later in life.
- Schools that provide breakfast in the classroom to all students have shown decreases in tardiness and suspensions as well as improved student behavior and attentiveness.
- What you eat for breakfast can have an impact on learning. One study showed that eating breakfast food high in fiber and low in sugar for breakfast helped students sustain the cognitive effects of breakfast.
- School Breakfast provides daily servings of fruit, whole grains, and milk, plus roughly ¼ the recommended calories needed for lasting energy.