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Getting children to participate in meal programs is the first step. Convincing them that healthful is good is a separate problem.

It’s no secret that many districts will start the next school year with significant changes in food and menus. Vending machines will be stripped of empty-calorie snacks and sugary beverages and à la carte lines will make fried items more scarce. If lawmakers get their way, the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2006 will require that all foods—whether served in a cafeteria or snack bar—follow government nutrition guidelines.

But rather than focusing on what they won’t offer students, districts are highlighting what they will have on hand to pique student interest and strengthen participation.

“Breakfast is an important initiative for next year,” says Tom Callahan, senior vice president of marketing for school services at Gaithersburg, Md.-based Sodexho USA. “The focus on breakfast is coming from the movement away from à la carte and the need to continue to maintain or improve revenue at school districts we serve.”

Twenty-five of the contractor’s school districts boost participation by serving elementary students morning meals in the classroom. The Breakfast in the Classroom program doubles as a lesson in nutrition education in some Sodexho schools so time isn’t diverted from lesson plans, Callahan says. But breakfast is about more than starting the day right. It’s a step toward smart fiscal management.

“In schools that have 40% or more free- or reduced-price meals, economies of scale [help cover the added costs of breakfast],” says Casey Dinkin, child nutrition outreach coordinator for Albany, N.Y.-based Nutrition Consortium (NC) of New York State.

NC recently released results of its study of 20 schools that offered free classroom breakfasts in 2003 and 2004. Participation doubled in schools no matter the socioeconomic makeup of the district, according to Dinkin.

“A lot of schools charge full-price kids using a prepaid system,” Dinkin says.

Easley (S.C.) High School in the School District of Pickens County was the first to offer South Carolina students classroom breakfasts. Participation is optional and students pay from 30 cents to 75 cents, which is automatically deducted from their accounts. For that, they get hot breakfast of menu items such as a chicken biscuit or breakfast pizza and milk or juice.

Eat and Learn
In Irving (Texas) Independent Schools, elementary students arrive to see an insulated container outside the door of each classroom. Inside are plastic bags containing everything from milk and fruit to pigs-in-a-blanket. For the first 10 minutes of class, they get a lesson in nutrition while they eat breakfast.

“It has tripled breakfast participation,” says Foodservice Director Michael Rosenberger.

In Oklahoma City, kids go through the breakfast line and grab a bagged breakfast to eat in the classroom, according to Steve Gallagher, Chartwells resident district manager at Oklahoma City Schools. The School Dining Services division of Compass Group manages foodservice in the district. “There were teacher concerns about trash and spills on books initially, but we purchased trash cans on wheels that teachers can put in the hallway after [and students can return to the kitchen],” explains Gallagher.

Sometimes getting kids to school on time is the biggest barrier to participation, says General Manager Mary Kate Harrison of Hillsborough County (Fla.) Public Schools.

“Kids are supposed to get breakfast even if they come in late, but it’s a challenge,” Harrison says. “We’re working on that.”