More kids take part in school breakfast program

Participation in the federal School Breakfast Program reached record heights for the 1999-2000 school year, serving an average of 6.3 million students daily, according to a new report.

In 1990 just over half that number, 3.4 million, received free or reduced-cost school breakfast.

The number of schools nationwide participating in the program rose by 1,200 in the last school year, with Arkansas, Kentucky and West Virginia leading the way in reaching low-income students.

Some schools fall significantly short of reaching kids in need, said Jim Weill, president of the non-profit Food Research and Action Center in Washington, which sponsored the report.

He said the problems range from poor outreach to the social stigma placed on kids who come to school early to get the free or reduced-cost breakfasts.

He encouraged schools to find a way to get breakfasts to kids of all income levels. ''There is increasing evidence that the closer to class time kids eat, the better they do,'' he said.

Assuring that children eat breakfast continues to be a problem. Because the meal is not within the traditional school day, schools must find creative ways to get children to take advantage of their breakfast program in addition to the already-popular lunch service.

With 95 percent of schools nationwide participating in the National School Lunch Program, the Food Research and Action Center uses it as a benchmark to measure the rate of participation in the breakfast program.

West Virginia scored the highest, providing free or reduced-cost breakfasts to 56.5 percent of low-income students who participate in the lunch program. Wisconsin scored the lowest, providing breakfast to only 22.8 percent of those who get free or reduced cost lunch. The national average is 42 percent.

Thirteen states served breakfast to less than one-third of the low-income students enrolled in lunch programs.

Authorized by Congress in 1975, the program reimburses schools for the cost of providing breakfast to students. The amount the school gets depends on the income level of each participant's family.

Weill said many schools eschew the reimbursement and provide free breakfasts to all kids. In the long run, he said, the costs to the school are minimal.

Boston Medical Center researchers found that participation in the breakfast program led to higher achievement test scores and lower rates of tardiness, since many kids who otherwise may not eat breakfast at home arrive at school early to receive the meals.

''When we don't get them breakfast, we cut the odds that they will behave and learn,'' Weill said. ''And we tie one hand behind the back of every teacher they might have.''

To offset the social stigma, the National Congress of Parent and Teachers is lobbying Congress to support a universal breakfast program that will feed all kids breakfast for free, regardless of family income. By making it available to everyone, the group said, it will remove the stigma and increase participation by students in need.

(Contact Stacey Zolt at zolts(at)shns.com)