Breakfast Consumption by School-Aged Children and Adolescents and School Performance, Weight-related Outcomes, and Health Outcomes
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U.S. School Breakfast Program Best Practices, Including Models of Student Costs and Breakfast Delivery A Series of Rapid Reviews
Overview
In a typical fiscal year, almost 91,000 schools served low-cost or free breakfasts through the U.S. School Breakfast Program to about 15 million students daily. Involvement in the School Breakfast Program can play an influential role in school-age children’s development of a healthy dietary pattern.
The USDA Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review (NESR) team conducted a rapid review for the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support to summarize evidence to answer the following questions:
- What are the relationships between eating breakfast and school performance, weight-related outcomes, and health?
- What best practices exist in the U.S. School Breakfast Program, including models of student costs and breakfast delivery?
A detailed description of the methodology used to complete these rapid reviews is found within the report.
The NESR team are scientists from the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion who have expertise in systematic review methodology and in nutrition science, dietetics, public health, and library science. NESR staff worked with staff from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support to determine the scope of the question and develop the rapid review protocol. A list of the staff who supported this work can be found at the link below.