Many children come to school without eating
breakfast. Others arrive at school with only a candy bar or soft drink in their stomachs.
Even children who can afford breakfast come to school hungry because:
- They don't have time
- They aren't hungry when they wake up
- Their parents have already left for work and are too
busy to prepare it
- They have a long bus ride to school
A typical day at
school
It's not even 10:00 a.m., and a steady stream of children have visited your office
complaining of stomach upset, headaches or fatigue. Not to your surprise, you find that
many of them haven't had breakfast. They aren't feeling well because they are hungry!
As a school nurse, you've heard all the excuses:
- "I overslept and didn't have time to eat."
- "I'm not hungry when I get up in the
morning."
- "I was in a hurry so I just grabbed a
donut."
- "My parents didn't have time to fix me
breakfast."
The remedy: Often a muffin and a glass of milk or
other light snack can help those stomachaches and headaches go away. The solution to this
common problem is right in your school cafeteria -- the School Breakfast Program.
What can you do?
- As a health professional, you can educate students
about the importance of breakfast. Help them understand that eating breakfast gives them
energy and makes them feel their best. If even helps them learn better in the classroom.
- Encourage children who come to school hungry to make
the cafeteria their first stop in the morning.
- Contact your school food service director to see if
there are ways you can work together to help children get the breakfasts they need to
start the day.
- Hold a health seminar for teachers to tell them how
school breakfast can reduce absenteeism and behavior problems.
- Conduct your own study of reasons children visit
your office -- see what percentage is related to breakfast-skipping and share the results
with teachers and administrators.
- Conduct a health fair/program with students to
discuss the many benefits of eating a healthy breakfast.
- Send parents a newsletter or bulletin with important
health reminders, including the need for their children to eat breakfast every day. Most
parents are likely to heed the advise of health professionals in matters of nutrition.
Point out how they can take advantage of the school breakfast program to make sure their
children meet daily nutrient needs as well as perform their best in the classroom.
For more information about school breakfast,
contact your school's food service director or your local Dairy Council.
Courtesy of National Dairy Council
The views of the editorial consultants are not
necessarily shared by MBM. Accuracy and nature of content is solely the responsibility of
the writer and not MBM.
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