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 nutritious 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 101,000
schools and residential child care institutions participating. In
2010, 88,642 schools and residential child care institutions
participated in the SBP, up from 87,814 in 2009.
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 2010, 11.6 million students participated in the program
daily, 5 percent more than the previous year. Most participants
have high need; of the 1.9 billion breakfasts served, 75 percent
were free and another 9 percent were provided at reduced price.
Spending for the program totaled $2.8 billion in 2010, 10 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.
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.