New Harvard Research Shows School Breakfast Program May Improve Children's Behavior and Performance

Results Previewed at Event Marking National School Breakfast Week and National Nutrition Month

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WASHINGTON, March 2, 1998 -- The kickoff of National School Breakfast Week and National Nutrition Month received extra impetus today with a series of studies from the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, which document the negative effects of hunger in U.S. children and show a link between participating in the National School Breakfast Program and improved academic performance and psychosocial behavior in children. The American School Food Service Association, the American Dietetic Association, National Dairy Council(R) and Kellogg Company joined Harvard researchers at Walker Jones Elementary School in Washington, DC, to preview the preliminary results of the latest research, which expands upon previous data showing improved math scores and attendance among children who eat a nutritionally balanced breakfast.

"Our first two studies showed a relationship between hunger and behavior problems and obstacles to learning," said Dr. Ronald Kleinman, a Harvard Medical School researcher and past chair of the Committee on Nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics, "Our study of elementary school children in the Pittsburgh area, published recently in the journal Pediatrics, links hunger to having a large number of behavior problems, especially fighting, stealing, having difficulties with teachers, not acknowledging rules, and clinging to parents," said Kleinman.

"Our study of Philadelphia and Baltimore public school students, which was just published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry last month, showed that school problems like absences and tardiness, and behavioral problems like hyperactivity were more common in children: whose parents reported hunger than in similar low-income children whose parents did not report child hunger," said Kleinman.

"The objective of our first school breakfast study, which has just been accepted for publication, was to determine whether a relationship existed between increased participation in the school breakfast program and improvements in standardized measures of academic and psychosocial success in school-age children," said Dr. J. Michael Murphy, also of Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School. "Four months after the schools started a free breakfast program in one Philadelphia and two Baltimore public schools, the number of students eating breakfast had nearly doubled and reports on the students indicated they were significantly more attentive in the classroom, earned higher grades in math, and had significantly fewer behavioral and emotional problems."

The study followed 133 students before and after the start of a universally free School Breakfast Program. Before the program, only about one-third of the children ever ate breakfast at the school. After the program started, nearly two-thirds of the students ate breakfast at the school sometimes or often. Students who increased their school breakfast participation showed significantly larger gains in math grades, decreased rates of tardiness, absences, and hyperactivity as well as decreased depression and anxiety than students whose school breakfast participation did not increase.

In another study that was done in Baltimore last year and recently presented at Pediatric Grand Rounds at Massachusetts General Hospital, school breakfast participation rates in three schools quadrupled when a free breakfast was placed on the students' desks each day. These three schools showed a significant decrease in school-wide rates of absences, tardiness, and disciplinary incidents compared to three control schools in which school breakfast participation rates remained low.

According to Dr. Murphy, "Our findings show that it is possible to obtain large increases in school breakfast participation and that when school breakfast participation rates go up, student outcome measures improve."

The School Breakfast Program helps ensure that some 6.9 million children in more than 68,000 schools get a healthy, smart start to their school day and their lives.

"Busy parents need to know that their children can receive nutritious, tasty meals at school each morning," said Melinda Turner, president of the American School Food Service Association. "The School Breakfast Program provides essential nourishment for students who might not otherwise eat breakfast." The nation's school nutrition professionals encourage children to "Get Up For School Breakfast."

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gets children off to a good start whether they're in school or at home," said Edith Howard Hogan, R.D., L.D., of The American Dietetic Association. "And breakfast is simple and easy. Top a bagel with peanut butter or low-fat cheese, or try yogurt with cereal and fruit mixed in, or grab a leftover burger or a slice of pizza. The key to fueling children for a day of learning is getting them to eat -- so find something they like."

At the Walker Jones Elementary School event, study co-sponsors America's dairy farmers and Kellogg Company, outlined their respective commitment to educating parents, teachers and children about the nutritional benefits of eating breakfast.

"Eating a complete breakfast is a habit that can promise a lifetime of good health," said Tab Forgac, M.S., R.D., vice president of nutrition marketing of the National Dairy Council. "The Harvard research findings underscore the National Dairy Council's efforts to increase parent and teacher awareness of the essential role breakfast plays in meeting daily nutritional needs, maintaining a healthy diet, and promoting children's overall good health, development and performance. School breakfasts are designed to meet one-fourth of a student's daily needs for key nutrients."

"We want to send a message to all parents that ensuring that their children eat a nutritious breakfast every day -- whether in school or at home -- is one of the most important contributions that they can make to their children's health, well-being and academic success," said Karen Kafer, R.D., director of communications, Kellogg USA. "It is rare that you are given so simple a solution that can impact a variety of problems affecting millions of children in our homes, our schools and our communities."

CONTACT: Michelle Sacks, 212-601-8053, or Stacey Antine of Porter Novelli, 212-601-8153, for Kellogg