Here are answers to questions that initially make teachers hesitant about supporting Breakfast in the Classroom, Grab 'n' Go Breakfast, or Breakfast after 1st Period:

• What is a nutritious breakfast and why is breakfast considered "the most important meal of the day"?
  Breakfast not only jumpstarts kids' day, it provides the energy they need to get through their busy morning! A nutritious breakfast includes at least three of the Five Food Groups, for example, fruit, whole-grain toast or cereal, and low-fat milk.
  • The energy from the carbohydrates, protein and fat is released over the course of the morning. This means that students can go several hours without feeling hungry and can focus on learning until snack or lunch time.
  • On the other hand, a breakfast of primarily sugary foods, such as doughnuts, fruit drinks, or soft drinks, causes a quick rise in blood sugar and energy. About an hour later, however, blood sugar and energy decline rapidly, and bring on symptoms of hunger.
    
    
• What about lost instructional time?
  Teachers report they have actually gained instructional time due to fewer nurse visits, and less tardiness and absenteeism. Breakfast in the Classroom generally takes about 10 minutes to serve and eat, and is often done during morning activities, such as announcements, daily oral language, individual reading time, etc., so no instructional time is lost. Often it takes time for children to settle in at the beginning of the day, and many teachers find Breakfast in the Classroom to be a successful transitional activity.
  
  
• Isn't it parents' responsibility to serve their children breakfast at home?
  Certainly many families still eat breakfast together at home, but with the reality of today's busy lifestyle, this is often not an option. Parents may leave for work before children get out of bed. Early bus schedules result in lack of time for eating breakfast or the need for additional food to get through the morning. Many children are not hungry when they first wake up and hunger usually kicks in after they arrive at school. Offering breakfast at school should always be a choice for students, not a requirement. Breakfast at school is meant as a way to support, not replace, the family.
  
  
• How much extra work is involved?
  It's a little bit more work, but much less than you think. And, current teacher participants, even the skeptical ones, have found it well worth the effort and want the programs to continue.
  
  
• How messy is breakfast outside the cafeteria?
  It's not messy. With Expanding Breakfast, school nutrition services provide nutritious breakfast foods that are easy to eat, serve and cleanup, to minimize labor and mess.
  
  
• Breakfast is already offered in the cafeteria and hardly any of the students participate. Why does Expanding Breakfast outside of the cafeteria increase participation?
  It may be difficult to attract students to a cafeteria-based breakfast program due to bus schedules and drop off times. Often the students are in a rush and preoccupied with getting to class and talking to friends, so even if they are hungry they do not take the time to go to the cafeteria. Unfortunately, there is still a potential stigma that students who are low-income are eating school breakfast in the cafeteria, which keeps many students away, regardless of their socio-economic level. When breakfast is served outside the cafeteria, students see others eating breakfast so they naturally join in.
  
  
• Doesn't serving Breakfast in the Classroom or Grab 'n' Go Breakfast generate a lot of trash and mess?
  Trash is a frequent concern before the program begins, but schools that have introduced the program have not experienced problems. Typically, breakfast foods in programs like these are easy-to-serve, easy-to-eat and easy-to-cleanup. Many school nutrition departments deliver a large trash bag with each class's breakfasts and the students throw away their own garbage. Students learn to be responsible by cleaning their desks after the meal. After the trash is collected, the bag is secured to avoid spills and placed in the hallway for custodial staff to collect. For Grab 'n' Go, trash containers are placed near the feeding site, just as you would in the cafeteria.
  
  
• What are the teacher benefits of having Breakfast in the Classroom?
  There is well-documented research demonstrating that children who eat a nutritious school breakfast have improved classroom performance, better test scores and grades, increased ability to focus and concentrate, increased attendance, and decreased disciplinary problems, tardiness and visits to the nurse. Even if there is initial resistance, the vast majority of teachers who participate in Breakfast in the Classroom find there are so many benefits that they would not want to stop the program.
  
  
• What is served in meals delivered to the classroom?
  School breakfast, in or out of the cafeteria, is nutritious, meeting USDA requirements and supplying 1/4 of the Recommended Daily Allowances children need. When Breakfast is served in the Classroom, or as Grab 'n' Go, menus consist of breakfast foods that are easy-to-serve, easy to-eat and easy-to-cleanup. Examples of menu items are: cereal, fruit and milk; link sausage and string cheese in a toasted hotdog bun with milk and fruit; a muffin, fruit-yogurt and milk.
  
  
• How are meals transported to the classroom?
  For Breakfast in the Classroom, some type of wheeled equipment is best to deliver foods. Some schools have carts in the cafeteria that can be used. Others have found that grocers will donate grocery carts. Still others use laundry baskets, trays or boxes and ice chests for milk and juice for food delivery. Often, older children can be given the special job of helping with delivery, which is viewed as a positive and helps encourage responsibility.