Breakfast Programs

Why Breakfast?

Your mother was right!  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

A healthy breakfast makes it easy to eat from the four main food groups of the Canada Food Guide obtaining all the nutrients needed to start your day:

• Grains, found in cereals, toast and muffins - The good kind, not coated in fat and sugar
• Milk and milk products - found in the milk on your healthy cereal, in the yogurt in your smoothie or the cheese on your toast
• Fruit and vegetables - found in a sliced tomato with your eggs or in a toasted tomato sandwich, the mango in your smoothie, the blueberries on top of your yogurt, the banana in your muffin
• Meat and alternates - found in the peanut butter on your whole grain toast, the nuts in your granola or the eggs in your spinach omelet.

A healthy breakfast provides the long burning fuel for your day whether you are heading to the construction site, the office or to school.  A properly fueled brain has the ability to concentrate and learn without the distractions or a growling stomach or low blood sugar.

Breakfast programs in schools have resulted in marked improvements in attendance, attention span, behaviour and an overall sense of security among the students.  Here is what one teacher said about the GNWT Healthy Food for Learning grant which funded breakfast and snack programs in NWT schools in the 2010/2011 school year:  “Nutrition and learning go hand in hand.  I have been a teacher and/or administrator for 26 years and have taught in 9 schools in Nunavut, the NWT and BC and food for kids to learn has been essential”

A healthy breakfast will last you through the morning thus avoiding the temptation to snack throughout the day on high fat, high sugar convenience foods.   This is an important contributor to maintaining a healthy weight. Studies show that people who eat breakfast actually weight less on average than people who skip it.

Parents, when you eat breakfast you are setting an example for your children that will encourage a lifetime of healthy eating.  Someday they will say, “Mom and Dad were right, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!”

The Schools we target

All children learn better when they are well fed and not worrying about their next meal.  In every school in the NWT and across Canada there are children who arrive at school without having eaten breakfast.  Why is this happening?  There are several common reasons:

• They are not getting up in time to fit breakfast into their schedule
• They or their families are unaware of the importance of a healthy breakfast in scholastic success.  The student is not being encouraged to eat before leaving home.
• Socioeconomic factors mean that there is little or no healthy food in the home on a regular basis.

In cooperation with the Superintendents and Principals of the various District Education Councils and the individual schools we are working to provide funding for breakfast programs in the schools that need it most.

• They have a significant number of students arriving at school hungry
• They have fewer opportunities to fund raise through community and corporate support
• They have a small breakfast program in place and/or the people willing and able to run a more comprehensive one.
• They have a basic kitchen facility and the space needed to run a program.

What the future holds

Currently, Food First Foundation, NWT is partnering with Breakfast Clubs of Canada to help fund breakfast programs in five schools in the NWT.  We plan to continue and expand this partnership as funding allows.