Kentucky earns high marks for ...breakfast

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – The School Breakfast Scorecard 2007, produced by the national Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), shows that Kentucky ranks in the top 10 among states in the percentage of schools that offer breakfast to students.

The scorecard was released on Tuesday, December 11, and shows that Kentucky ranks eighth in the percentage of schools that offer breakfast and fifth in the percentage of low-income students participating in School Lunch Program who also eat breakfast.

Unlike most other states, Kentucky does not mandate participation in or provide incentives for the School Breakfast Program. Paul McElwain, director of the Kentucky Department of Education’s Division of Nutrition and Health Services, said that the state’s public school districts have a deep understanding of the value of school meals.

“Our districts and schools continue to do the right thing, for the right reason,” said McElwain. “Without incentives or mandates, Kentucky’s public school districts have recognized the connection of good nutrition to student learning.”

Fewer than ten public schools in the state don’t offer the School Breakfast Program, primarily because of a lack of participation.

The FRAC report provides several key findings about the School Breakfast Program nationwide:

In 2006-07, 8.1 million low-income children participated in the program on an average day nationwide, an increase of 391,000 children, or five percent, compared to the prior school year.

In the last three school years, daily participation in school breakfast by low-income children has increased by 1 million, or 14.2 percent. (More than 227,000 children in Kentucky’s public schools participate in the School Breakfast Program.)

Nationally, comparing free and reduced-price school breakfast participation to free and reduced-price lunch participation, 45.3 children ate breakfast for every 100 children who ate lunch in school year 2006-07. (Kentucky’s figure was 56.3 percent.)

New Mexico, at 61.1 percent, became first state to exceed the ratio of 60 low-income children eating breakfast for every 100 eating lunch. The other best ranked states on this measure were South Carolina (59.2 percent), West Virginia (57 percent), Oklahoma (56.9 percent) and Kentucky (56.3 percent). (South Carolina and West Virginia have state laws requiring all public schools to offer the breakfast program. The New Mexico state legislature appropriates money for breakfast reimbursement over and above the federal reimbursement. Only Kentucky and Oklahoma do not have state statutory mandates or state financial inducements.)

The majority of states have implemented promotion activities to encourage school districts to adopt alternative breakfast service models to help increase participation. Several states also have worked to improve the nutritional quality of the meals being served at breakfast.

FRAC also made several recommendations for school breakfast expansion:

Every school should participate in the School Breakfast Program.

States should mandate the provision of breakfast at schools, particularly those with significant numbers of low-income students, and provide state funds to supplement federal funding for the breakfast program.

Schools should make breakfast a part of the school day by implementing universal breakfast programs (breakfast at no cost to all students), and flexible serving methods such as breakfast in the classroom.

USDA should make supplemental federal funding available to school districts for the implementation of strategies to increase participation in the School Breakfast Program.

Local outreach and social marketing by schools, advocates, state agencies, school nutrition organizations and USDA are vital to ensuring that all eligible children who wish to are enrolled and participate in school breakfast.

Schools should improve the nutritional quality of school breakfast in order to attract student participation and provide the best nutrition to students.

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is the leading national nonprofit organization working to improve public policies and public-private partnerships to eradicate hunger and undernutrition in the United States. FRAC works with hundreds of national, state and local nonprofit organizations, public agencies and corporations to address hunger and its root cause, poverty.

More information about the report and FRAC is available online at http://www.frac.org/.

SOURCE KDE press release

Kentucky fares well in National Nutrition Report

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) - The percentage of children in Kentucky who participate in the school breakfast program is higher than the national average, even though schools in the state are not required to offer the program.


This data comes from the Food Research and Action Center’s (FRAC) State of the States 2007, A Profile of Food & Nutrition Programs across the Nation, released last week.


FRAC compared the number of low-income students who participate in the school breakfast program to the number of low-income children who participate in the school lunch program.

Nationally, 44.6 low-income children ate breakfast for every 100 low-income children who ate lunch. In Kentucky, that figure is 56.2, ranking the state at fourth among the 50 states and Washington, D.C.

• Kentucky ranks 10th in food stamp participation, with 71% of eligible persons participating.
• Kentucky ranks 11th in food stamp participation, with 63% of "working poor" participating.
• Kentucky ranks 28% in growth of food stamp participation with 443,946 participating in 2002, and 592,105 participating in 2007.

Of the three states that have a higher ranking (South Carolina, at 57.2; New Mexico at 57.9; and West Virginia at 58.5), South Carolina and West Virginia have passed state laws that require schools with a minimum number of low-income students to offer the breakfast program.

Although Kentucky does not require schools to offer the program, most of the state’s public schools offer breakfast, with only eight schools opting not to offer in the 2006-07 school year,” said Paul McElwain, director of the Kentucky Department of Education’s Division of Nutrition and Health Services. “They do that because they understand the benefits, not because they have to offer it.”


According to the FRAC report, participation in the breakfast program in Kentucky continues to grow.



...Compiled annually, FRAC’s State of the States provides a comprehensive snapshot of hunger, poverty and use of federal nutrition programs nationally and in each state. The report includes detailed information on the extent of hunger, participation in eight federal nutrition programs and economic data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. FRAC is the leading national organization working for more effective public and private policies to eradicate domestic hunger and undernutrition.


The entire report is available here: <http://www.frac.org/>.