Background: Many Canadian schools offer breakfast programs; however, students' engagement in these programs is low, while breakfast skipping is highly prevalent among youth. This study examined whether the availability of breakfast programs supports adolescents' regular breakfast eating, and identified characteristics of breakfast skippers who are…

Background: We assessed the cost-effectiveness and student outcomes related to providing breakfast in the classroom (BIC) setting versus breakfast in the traditional school cafeteria (Cafe). Methods: The sample included 2906 African American and Hispanic students attending urban elementary and middle schools in a city in the Northeastern United…

Background: Breakfast consumption often decreases as youth get older. The School Breakfast Program (SBP) provides an opportunity to intervene and increase breakfast consumption, especially among high school students. Methods: Project breakFAST implemented an expanded breakfast service at 12 high schools. In this longitudinal evaluation, school…

Background: The National School Breakfast Program (SBP) is a federally funded program that allows states to offer nutritious breakfast to K-12 students. However, rates of SBP participation are low in some rural states, and the reasons are not well understood. The purpose of the study was to explore administrators' perceptions, attitudes, and…

Background: Despite the importance of breakfast consumption, breakfast skipping is common among Canadian youth. This study examines how changes to school-based breakfast programs are associated with breakfast-skipping behavior. Methods: Using school-level longitudinal data from Year 1 (Y[subscript 1]: 2012-2013) and Year 2 (Y[subscript 2]:…

Background: The purpose is to determine if altering school breakfast policies and the school breakfast environment will positively impact adolescent beliefs of the barriers and benefits of eating breakfast. Methods: There were 904 adolescents from 16 rural high schools, Minnesota, in the BreakFAST Study who reported eating breakfast fewer than 4…

Background: The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) directed the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to revise school meal standards. Students are most affected by efforts to improve the school food environment; yet, few studies directly include students. This study examined high school students' experiences of school meal reform to gain…

Background: Having breakfast is correlated with health and academic benefits; yet, many children do not consume breakfast, and participation in the federal School Breakfast Program remains low. The purpose of this study was to examine parent perceptions of school breakfast and identify relationships between those who consume breakfast at school…

Background: In this study, we describe state agency strategies to support weight-related policy implementation in schools, and examine the association among state support, obesity prevalence, and strength of state policies governing school nutrition and physical education. Methods: The 2012 School Health Policies and Practices Study describes…

Background: Little is known about adolescents' food purchasing behaviors in rural areas. This study examined whether purchasing food at stores/restaurants around schools was related to adolescents' participation in school breakfast programs and overall diet in rural Minnesota. Methods: Breakfast-skippers enrolled in a group-randomized intervention…

Background: A 2010 publication showed a positive relationship between children's body mass index (BMI) and energy intake at school-provided meals (as assessed by direct meal observations). To help explain that relationship, we investigated 7 outcome variables concerning aspects of school-provided meals: energy content of items selected, number of…

Background: The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) directed the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to revise school meal standards to increase healthy food offerings. A critical stakeholder in the implementation of standards is Food Service Directors (FSDs). We sought to examine FSDs' perspectives on revised school meal standards to…

Background: Food-insecure (FIS) adolescents struggle in school and with health and mental health more often than food-secure (FS) adolescents. Rural communities experience important disparities in health, but little is known about rural FIS adolescents. This study aims to describe select characteristics of rural adolescents by food-security…

Childhood hunger is one of the nation's most insidious problems and can have profound negative effects on children's health and development. Often the cause of hunger, food insecurity can limit a child's cognitive and socioemotional development, thereby impairing school achievement, and diminishing long-term productivity and economic potential.…

Background: The high prevalence of obesity puts children at risk for chronic diseases, increases health care costs, and threatens to reduce life expectancy. As part of the response to this epidemic, the New York City (NYC) Department of Education (DOE)--the nation's largest school district--has worked to improve the appeal and nutritional quality…