Hunger affects children in every community in the United States. Ending hunger means ensuring every child has reliable access to the healthy food they need. Research shows that the simple act of eating school breakfast can dramatically change a child’s life.

OVERVIEW

1 in 7 kids in the U.S. live in families who struggle with hunger. This takes a profound toll on their health, their happiness, and their ability to find success in the future. School breakfast can help change that.

Free and reduced-price school meals work to close the gap between kids who have enough to eat and those who don’t. These programs can make sure kids have access to food when they need it, regardless of zip code, age, time of year or time of day.

The traditional method of serving the meal before the school day starts, however, can be ineffective. As a result, only a fraction of the students who may need this meal are able to access it.

When schools make breakfast part of the school day, serving it once school starts instead of before, it reaches more of the kids who need it.

THE IMPACT OF BREAKFAST

Making school breakfast a seamless part of the day by serving it after the bell is connected to positive impacts on classrooms and schools. After implementing breakfast after the bell in their schools, principals and teachers report seeing numerous benefits for their students:

• Higher test scores
• Calmer classrooms
• More attentive students
• Fewer referrals to the principals office for behavior
• Higher attendance rates
• Higher graduation rates
• Improvements in health
• Fewer visits to the nurse for stomach aches

Students themselves report that they feel better and are better able to concentrate and learn when they’ve started the day with breakfast.

When kids get the food they need each day, they feel better, learn more and
grow up stronger. This is good for the nation: healthier, smarter kids are more likely break the cycle of poverty and build a stronger, more competitive economy.

TAKE ACTION

Together, we can end childhood hunger.

In every community, there are children without enough to eat. Across the
nation, No Kid Hungry is helping end childhood hunger in communities using
proven, practical strategies.

Ending childhood hunger isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s also the smart thing to do. When kids consistently get the nutrition they need, they feel better, learn more, and grow up stronger. And that means a smarter, healthier, more productive country.

Take action today.