The Effect of Breakfast in the Classroom on Obesity and Academic Performance: Evidence from New York City

Overview

Journal J Policy Anal Manage

Specialty Public Health

Date 2016 Jun 18

PMID 27314139

Citations 11

Authors

Sean P Corcoran

Brian Elbel

Amy Ellen Schwartz

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Participation in the federally subsidized school breakfast program often falls well below its lunchtime counterpart. To increase take-up, many districts have implemented Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC), offering breakfast directly to students at the start of the school day. Beyond increasing participation, advocates claim BIC improves academic performance, attendance, and engagement. Others caution BIC has deleterious effects on child weight. We use the implementation of BIC in New York City (NYC) to estimate its impact on meals program participation, body mass index (BMI), achievement, and attendance. While we find large effects on participation, our findings provide no evidence of hoped-for gains in academic performance, or of feared increases in obesity. The policy case for BIC will depend upon reductions in hunger and food insecurity for disadvantaged children, or its longer-term effects.

Citing Articles

Alternative School Breakfast Service Models and Associations with Breakfast Participation, Diet Quality, Body Mass Index, Attendance, Behavior, and Academic Performance: A Systematic Review.

Olarte D, Tsai M, Chapman L, Hager E, Cohen J Nutrients. 2023; 15(13).

PMID: 37447277 PMC: 10346933. DOI: 10.3390/nu15132951.

The Relationship between School Infrastructure and School Nutrition Program Participation and Policies in New York City.

Prescott M, Gilbride J, Corcoran S, Elbel B, Woolf K, Ofori R Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(15).

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Associations between a Universal Free Breakfast Policy and School Breakfast Program Participation, School Attendance, and Weight Status: A District-Wide Analysis.

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Ferris D, Jabbari J, Chun Y, Sandoval J Nutrients. 2022; 14(3).

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Universal School Meals and Associations with Student Participation, Attendance, Academic Performance, Diet Quality, Food Security, and Body Mass Index: A Systematic Review.

Cohen J, Hecht A, McLoughlin G, Turner L, Schwartz M Nutrients. 2021; 13(3).

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