Moms everywhere have been touting the importance of breakfast for decades, and research has proven its value time and again. A recent study solidifies the saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
USDA-ARS scientist Terry Pivik from Arkansas studied a group of 81 healthy 8 to 11 year olds. He used EEG sensors to harmlessly record electrical activity generated in the children's brains as they calculated simple math problems in their heads.
Each child took two math tests. Half the students ate breakfast during a break in the testing, while the other half did not. The students who skipped breakfast had to exert more effort to perform the mental math and stay focused on the tests. Those who ate breakfast used less mental effort, were better able to pay attention and improved their test scores.
Despite the benefits of breakfast, a survey done by Kellogg's Company a few years ago found that only 77 percent of elementary students, 50 percent of middle schoolers and 36 percent of high schoolers eat breakfast. To combat these low numbers and enhance performance in the classroom, the federal School Breakfast Program was introduced in 1966. Participation has grown from half a million youth in 1970 to more than 12.9 million being served breakfast at school every day in 2012.
Milk continues to be a staple of school meals for its nutrient value. Eight ounces of fluid milk must be offered with breakfast and lunch, and schools must give at least two different milk options. As a result, about a third of milk intake outside the home is drank by students at schools.
This opens a great window of opportunity for the dairy industry to boost fluid milk consumption, which has been on the decline since 1970. More milk at breakfast has great benefits for the students who consume it and the farmers who produce it.
