Celebrate Breakfast

It's National School Breakfast Week and a great time for retailers to suggest healthy breakfast options for parents whose children don't have access to school breakfast programs.

It’s National School Breakfast Week, a great time to celebrate the School Breakfast Program, which serves well-balanced, healthy meals to more than 11 million children every school day. The campaign will help students learn about the importance of eating healthy and being active. “School Breakfast - Go for Gold” also aligns with USDA’s Healthier US School Challenge and the First Lady's Let's Move Goals.

Breakfast is hugely important. Studies show that eating breakfast can improve students' test scores, attendance and behavior. And USDA research found that children who eat school breakfast consume more fruit and milk than those who don’t eat breakfast at school.

Recently the federal government released new national nutrition standards for school breakfast and lunch. Schools across the country are already working toward these new requirements by increasing whole grains, adding more fruits and vegetables, serving only one percent or fat-free milk, and reducing sodium in meals.

In the current state of the economy, more families depend on free and reduced price school breakfasts to provide children with the nutrition they need to succeed in schools. And school breakfast is a huge convenience for busy parents and for students who aren’t hungry first thing in the morning.

To reach more students in need of a healthy breakfast, schools are finding new ways to deliver school breakfast though breakfast in the classroom programs, grab-n-go kiosks at the school doors, and breakfast-in-a-bag choices.

Retailers can help parents whose kids don’t have access to school breakfast programs by, creating kid friendly breakfast endcaps. Here are some delicious and nutritious breakfast ideas: yogurt with granola or cereal, eggs with whole grain toast, a yogurt based fresh or frozen fruit smoothie along side cereal, oatmeal, toast or a bagel. Melting cheese atop a whole grain bagel, English muffin, or toast is also a protein rich option. Seed and nut butters like almond, peanut, and sunflower are not only protein rich but rich in essential minerals as well. Serve an English muffin, bagel or toast with your child's favorite nut butter and sliced banana or strawberries on top. Nut and seed butters are extremely versatile and can even be mixed in with oatmeal to increase the nutrition content of this already nutritious breakfast choice!

Click here for more information on National School Breakfast Week.