How many times did your mother or father say to you, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day?” I know I tell my children whenever I can.
Why is breakfast so important? Breakfast gets my kindergartner through our four block walk to school, coloring and worksheets, reading stories and practicing new vocabulary on the rug, learning at work stations and playing at recess. If she waited to eat until lunchtime she would be exhausted, upset and very hungry.
Unfortunately, breakfast is often the easiest meal to forget or skip, especially as kids get older. I have been guilty of pushing breakfast to the side as I’m getting everyone dressed (the eternal quest to find matching shoes!), packing lunches, looking for the lost library book and doing the myriad of other tasks that come up every morning.
However, if I skip breakfast at 8:30 AM, I’m able to grab a banana and eat it at my desk. Most school-age children don’t have that option. Three out of four K-8 public school teachers that were surveyed about breakfast reported that their students regularly show up to school hungry.**Additionally, not all kids have nutritious breakfast available to them at home. Approximately one in five households with kids struggle at some point during the year to put food on the table.*
This is where the Fuel Up to Play 60 program steps in. Fuel Up to Play 60 is an in-school health and wellness program launched by National Dairy Council and the NFL, in collaboration with the USDA that works with schools to make school breakfast more accessible to kids, while encouraging them to make healthy choices and get active for at least 60 minutes a day.
Check out how the program is making breakfast time fun, too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP9fjTs59l0&feature=youtu.be
They recently announced $35 million in grants aimed at helping schools update or upgrade their existing kitchen equipment together with the USDA, GENYOUth Foundation and NFL! At a Fuel Up to Play 60 event at Ralston High School (located in Omaha, NE), the school was recognized as the recipient of a Fuel Up to Play 60 Equipment Grant for $5,000 for Second Chance Breakfast equipment! Ralston School District was also recognized bythe USDA Regional team for their effort in serving breakfast to students by using alternative breakfast methods such as Breakfast in the Classroom and Grab and Go.
Visit FuelUpToPlay60.com to learn more about the importance of school breakfast and how your school can earn grants!
Join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by following #FuelGreatness.
The author was compensated for this article. All opinions are my own.
*Felling, Christy. "STATEMENT: Share Our Strength's Bill Shore on New USDA Food Insecurity Numbers | www.nokidhungry.org."
STATEMENT: Share Our Strength's Bill Shore on New USDA Food Insecurity Numbers | www.nokidhungry.org. No Kid Hungry, 4 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
**“Hunger In Our Schools.” 1st ed. Washington: No Kid Hungry, 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. 
