School breakfast club facts for kids
A school breakfast club is a special program where children can eat a healthy breakfast in a safe place before school starts. This term is often used in the United Kingdom to describe these clubs.
Breakfast clubs help students do better in school and behave well. They are especially helpful for kids whose families might find it hard to provide breakfast every day. Even though they are very useful, breakfast clubs are not as common as school lunch programs, both in the UK and around the world. In 2013, only about half of UK students could go to a breakfast club.
Joining a breakfast club is not required; many parents prefer to feed their children at home. Schools often run these clubs, but community groups can also organize them. Most breakfast clubs are located in schools. However, you might also find them in churches, community halls, or even businesses. Sometimes, clubs are open to children from more than one school.
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How Did Breakfast Clubs Start?
The idea of school meals began a long time ago. In the late 1700s, a person called Count Rumford was one of the first to suggest school dinners. School meals became more common in the 1800s and 1900s. But usually, only lunch was provided.
Things started to change after 1932 with the Oslo breakfast. This was a healthy, uncooked meal. It became famous worldwide. People even said it helped children grow taller! Similar programs began in many countries. In the United States, a big step was the 1966 launch of the School Breakfast Program.
Breakfast Clubs in the UK
In the UK, breakfast clubs began in the 1990s. People wanted to make sure kids got good nutrition. Parents also needed a safe place for their children early in the morning. More parents were working, and they needed help with childcare before school. By 1999, over 700 breakfast clubs were running in the UK.
After a period of rising food prices around 2006, more efforts were made to start new clubs. This was because more people realized that some children came to school hungry. Hunger made it hard for them to focus and sometimes caused behavior problems.
A 2011 report by Kellogg's found that the number of breakfast clubs had grown to over 20,000. However, many were at risk of closing because they didn't have enough money. In 2013, a survey of school staff found that just over half of schools offered a breakfast club.
In 2017, the UK government promised to provide free school breakfasts for all primary school children. This promise was later changed. But the government still plans to give £26 million extra funding for breakfast clubs.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, UK breakfast clubs had to close completely. Schools stayed partly open for children of essential workers. A May 2020 report showed that many fewer children were getting breakfast support during the lockdown compared to before the pandemic.
How Do Breakfast Clubs Work?
There isn't one single way that breakfast clubs are set up.
- Some clubs are run by schools and are located right in the school building.
- Others are run by community groups, businesses, or churches. Sometimes, different groups work together.
- Some clubs charge a small fee for breakfast. They might offer free meals only to children who already qualify for free school meals.
- Other clubs provide free breakfasts for all children. This helps avoid making kids from poorer families feel different or singled out.
In the UK, groups like County Councils, the charity Magic Breakfast, and food companies like Greggs and Kellogg's offer help and funding for clubs.
Breakfast clubs usually stay open for about 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. They close before the first morning lesson. Sometimes, volunteers help run the clubs. Other times, paid staff or teachers supervise the children.
Why Are Breakfast Clubs Good?
Breakfast clubs are very important for children whose parents cannot always afford regular morning meals. They offer both short-term and long-term health benefits.
Benefits for Learning and Behavior
Children who eat breakfast often learn better and behave better in class. Breakfast clubs can also improve a child's long-term health by providing a healthy, balanced meal.
Other good things about breakfast clubs include:
- Helping kids attend school more regularly.
- Preventing children from feeling lonely or left out, especially if they are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
- Providing adult supervision for children in the hour or so before school starts.
Most teachers believe that school breakfast clubs help students achieve their learning goals. For example, in a 2013 survey of 552 teachers:
- 387 teachers (71%) said clubs had a positive effect on student concentration.
- 325 teachers (60.2%) said clubs had a positive effect on student behavior.
Studies in the U.S. and Europe have shown that school breakfast programs help students do better in school. One 2016 report found that free school breakfast clubs can boost children's learning by as much as two months. This study found benefits not just from eating breakfast, but also from simply attending the club.
Growth in the United States
In 2018, the balanced breakfast program for school children in the United States had grown a lot. It was managed by the United States Department of Agriculture. About 14.7 million students received free or reduced-price breakfasts in 2018 and 2019. This was a big increase from 1989, when 3.8 million students received these breakfasts. The money spent by the government on the school breakfast program in the U.S. also increased in 2019.
