"I dare you to eat that!" is one of the old schoolyard taunt heard by the students. Texas schools will start putting a new, more positive spin on this old schoolyard taunt. March 6th marks the start of National School Breakfast Week, and this year's theme is "Take the School Breakfast Challenge." The article "Commentary: School Breakfast: The Most Important Meal in Texas" by Bob Sanborn and Alayna Sublette published in Austin American Statesman shows the importance of healthy meal in child's development. The article says that there is still much work to do as not all schools in Texas are utilizing best practices. It has been noted that every one in four child is food insecure in Texas, meaning that the only meals these kids might receive are those provided by their school.
In 2013, the Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 376, requiring school districts with 80 percent or more students eligible for free or reduced-price meals to offer free breakfast to all students. The Bill was passed to reduce food insecurity, while also supporting Texas farmers and agriculture. The effects have been tremendous, but again, not all districts are taking advantage of the available resources. The authors suggests that to overcome this situation, school districts must do more than passively offer breakfast; they must be proactive. Through better implementation methods and interactive events like National School Breakfast Week, Texas school districts can help us get one step closer to eradicating food insecurity among Texas children.
Ultimately, I completely agree with the article as research has proven that kids who aren't distracted by hunger do better in school and, unsurprisingly, are less disruptive in class. I think a healthy breakfast is not something we should support one week out of the year, every child needs breakfast everyday. It's just like our mom saying: Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.
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