Child Nutrition Programs: School Breakfast Program

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Founded by the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, the School Breakfast Program (SBP), like the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), provides nutritional meals to students at participating schools (and to children in a few residential child care institutions). Eligible students receive free or reduced-price breakfasts.

The number of schools participating in the SBP increased dramatically in the early 1990s, growing by nearly 9 percent annually between fiscal 1989 and fiscal 1995. Since then, the number of participating schools has continued to increase, although participation still lags that of the NSLP (with more than 96,000 schools participating). In 2008, 81,517 schools participated in the SBP, up from 79,915 in 2007.

Student participation in the SBP has also grown.  In fiscal 1989, 3.7 million students participated in the program on a given school day, and a total of 658 million breakfasts were served. In fiscal 2008, 10.6 million students participated in the program daily, 3 percent more than the previous year. Most participants have high need; of the 1.8 billion breakfasts served, 71 percent were free and another 10 percent were provided at reduced price. Spending for the program totaled $2.4 billion in 2008, 9 percent more than in the previous year.

An ERS-sponsored study found that elementary school-age students are more likely to participate in the SBP when they come from lower income or time-constrained households. Children with access to the SBP are more likely to eat breakfast in the morning. Program access may enhance food security among families at the margin of food insecurity.

Another ERS-sponsored study found that by increasing the likelihood that children would eat breakfast, SBP was associated with children having a lower Body Mass Index (BMI), a measure of weight status.

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Recommended readings—Recent ERS research projects related to the SBP have studied the effects of school nutrition programs on children's nutritional status and the feasibility of measuring the effect of school breakfasts on learning.