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Breakfast to be free at schools
Web posted Tuesday, August 3, 2004
By Greg Rickabaugh
| Staff Writer
Richmond County parents can put away the Pop-Tarts and forget about the Froot Loops.
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The school district has agreed to offer pupils another year of breakfast at no cost. After last year's experiment increased the number of pupils eating breakfast by 25 percent, the school board voted last week to continue offering it free to children this year. School starts Monday.
"We are feeding more children, which means they are ready to learn," said nutrition director Josephine Mack.
During the 2003-04 school year, an average of 13,710 pupils ate breakfast every morning, a jump from 10,489 the previous year, when some children had to pay.
Federal reimbursement for meals and a successful bidding process for food allows the school district to provide the meals at no cost, Ms. Mack said.
Officials with the Food Research and Action Center in Washington, D.C., say the breakfast program in Richmond County is a great idea because it removes the stigma of getting a free meal only if you are poor.
"It's a program for schoolchildren instead of a program for poor children," said Randy Rosso, a senior policy analyst for the center, a public policy research and advocacy group.
In addition, children learn better when they start a day with a full stomach, Mr. Rosso said. Those who don't eat before school tend to remember less and have shorter attention spans.
Still, some Richmond County school board members disagree with the program. Barbara Padgett and Kenneth Echols voted against it.
"It is a parent's responsibility to prepare their children for school, and their breakfast is included in that," Mrs. Padgett said.
Ms. Mack said lunch should also be offered free.
"I feel like if the children attend school, then they should be entitled to all meals that are served at school the same way they are given textbooks and a ride on the school bus," she said.
BENEFITS OF BREAKFAST
Research links a child's nutrition to academic performance:
Hungry children are more likely to be hyperactive, absent and tardy.
Schools that serve breakfast to all pupils in the classroom show increases in standardized test scores.
Children who eat breakfast at school - closer to class and test-taking time - perform better on standardized tests than those who skip breakfast or eat breakfast at home.
Pupils who increase their participation in school breakfast exhibit decreased behavioral and psychological problems.
Source: Food Research and Action Center
--From the Tuesday, August 3, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle
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