School Breakfast Programs Essay -- Essays Papers

School Breakfast Programs For most kids waking up in the morning, getting dressed and sitting down to a bowl of cereal and some toast is a normal occurrence for them. However for some students that luxury may not be possible. Over the past couple of years several states across the US have spent millions of dollars and served over 360 million breakfasts and lunches for children who cannot afford to have a regular priced meal or who don’t have money for food at all. With these programs producing such great results for the children in the classroom and out of school more and more states have begun to implement similar programs for underprivileged children. One of the major reasons for the popularity of the breakfast programs is that it enables the children to start there day off with a healthy, nutritional meal. And for kids that are in elementary and middle school having a well balanced meal to start their day off is important because at that age children tend to hit growth spurts sporadically and having the right nutrition in there bodies will enable them to grow with out any complications. Another key reason as to why the Breakfast programs have become such a major success is the in class room behavior of the students. In different polls taken across America schools that were using the breakfast programs had shown that students who took part in the programs overall grades improved, along with attendance and classroom behavior. In an article written by the Advantage Press it was stated that â€Å"A surprising benefit has been observed: there has been a sharp decrease in the number of children going to school nurses. Thus, less class time missed by students. Even teachers who had worried about the added work of overseeing br... ...Programs January 2004 http://www.mtcef.org/activities_3a.htm 5. Provision 2 Guidance National School and Lunch Programs 3 March 2004 http://www.sde.state.id.us/child/docs/CNPResources/Publications/P2Guidance- July242002.pdf 6. Chicago Public School Meal Programs September 2004 http://www.cps.k12.il.us/Parent/Enrollment/School_Lunch/school_lunch.html 7. ThedailyJounranl.com Monday, May 14, 2001 http://www.thedailyjournal.com/news/stories/20010514/opinion/568745.html 8. Policies and Procedure Manual Mississippi Nutrition Program September 2004 http://www.cn.mde.k12.ms.us/resources/forms/ta/mscnp15.pdf 9. Federal Food Programs http://www.frac.org/html/federal_food_programs/programs/sbp.html 10. School Breakfast Programs August 2003 http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Breakfast/AboutBFast/bfastfacts.htm