School Breakfast Week
Starting the day with a healthy breakfast boosts a child's brainpower, improves mood, and helps maintain a healthy weight.
Position breakfast products and school nutrition programs as essential for child development and academic performance during the first full week of March.
- Share breakfast nutrition tips and recipes parents can use to fuel their kids' school day
- Highlight how school breakfast programs support student wellness and academic success
- Partner with schools to promote healthy breakfast options and nutrition education
- Feature testimonials from parents and educators on the impact of nutritious breakfast on student performance
School Breakfast Week began in 1989 when the School Nutrition Association launched the holiday nationwide to help promote the importance of healthy breakfast choices through getting parents and students involved.
The SNA began in 1932 when during the Great Depression, stockpiles of food were being stockpiled to schools in need. When National School Lunch Act was launched by President Harry Truman a few years later, this began a streamline of events, conventions, and organizations working together to create the School Nutrition Association, establishing it was first headquarters in 1955.
Monumentally, the beginnings of the holiday stemmed from federal cuts to children’s nutrition programs that were made in 1981. This event sparked the holiday as a way of encouraging parents to learn about their schools’ nutrition programs and what schools are doing to keep their students healthy.
However, much of the issues faced by those advocating for children’s nutrition slowly dissipated after President Barack Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010. Today, the SNA has been encouraging healthier food in schools through its National School Lunch Program and has been a successful source of funding for schools.
School Breakfast Week encourages parents to advocate for their children’s health and encourages schools to do the same by reforming their meal plans and helping students make better eating choices each day.