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The Better Breakfast Initiative
A Collaboration between Project Bread and the Harvard School of Public Health
What is the Better Breakfast Initiative?
The Better Breakfast Initiative aims to improve the nutritional content of school breakfast by offering students an all-new breakfast menu based on guidelines developed in consultation with the Nutrition Department at the Harvard School of Public Health.
The new breakfast menus feature low-sugar cereals, skim or 1% milk, and fresh fruit options such as: fruit smoothies, fruit salad, and assorted whole fruit. Food service directors are required to eliminate products containing trans fat and provide at least three grams of fiber per breakfast. As a result of this initiative, schools have also begun to phase out white bread in exchange for bread products made with whole grains. The nutritional guidelines introduced by the Better Breakfast Initiative are above and beyond the current USDA guidelines for school breakfast.
Why introduce additional guidelines?
The rate of childhood obesity has exploded among elementary, middle, and high school students nationwide. Since 1976, the prevalence of overweight has more than doubled among 6- to 11-year-olds and tripled among 12- to 19-year-olds. As a result of this shift, children are now at a greater risk for many chronic diseases and health conditions associated with overweight and obesity including type II diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Overweight and obese students often experience ridicule from their peers and low self-esteem.
The Better Breakfast Initiative establishes good nutrition as an important part of the school day. By featuring foods and beverages that are part of a healthy diet, schools help students establish positive eating habits that contribute to a lifetime of overall better health.
How can we improve the existing School Breakfast Program?
High sugar cereals: Frosted or sweetened cereals contain a lot of added sugar. This added sugar leads to rapid changes in blood sugar levels that rise quickly and then “crash” as blood sugar falls below the normal range. The result? Students experience an immediate surge in energy followed by lethargy, poor concentration, and hunger.
- Low-sugar cereals (Cheerios®, Kix®, Chex®, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes®) and/or high fiber cereals (Shredded Wheat®, Kellogg’s or Post Raisin Bran®) create a smaller spike in blood sugar, thereby avoiding the dramatic fluctuations in students’ energy levels. Added sugar also contributes many calories to the diet without providing any nutritional value. These “empty calories” can be avoided by choosing cereals that are lower in refined sugar.
Saturated Fats: Saturated fat, most often found in animal products (meat and dairy) and tropical plant oils (palm and coconut), has been shown to raise LDL or “bad” cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease.
- Breakfast pastries, doughnuts, and cinnamon rolls are high in saturated fat. Reducing the amount of these sweet treats can eliminate some saturated fat from the diet. Whole milk also contains high levels of saturated fat. Skim and 1% milk contain all of the nutrients of whole milk with less saturated fat and fewer calories.
Trans Fats: Most trans fats are a product of a chemical process called hydrogenation. Food manufacturers use this technique to create foods with a longer shelf life. Trans fats tend to increase LDL or “bad” cholesterol and decrease HDL or “good” cholesterol. Because of their additional effect on HDL, trans fats pose an even greater risk to heart health than saturated fats.
- Eliminating processed foods such as pastries, doughnuts, and muffins that contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils will reduce the amount of trans fat in the breakfast menu.
Low Fiber: Fiber — found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains — aids in digestion and has been shown to decrease the risk of cancer and heart disease. Since fiber contributes bulk to the diet and creates the feeling of fullness, it may contribute to healthy weight and increased satiety. 100% fruit juice, despite its plentiful vitamins and minerals, has a high concentration of naturally occurring sugar and contains very little fiber. Without fiber, juice lacks one of the significant benefits of whole fruit. 100% juice also contains more calories than whole fruit because of its high sugar content.
- Offering students whole fruit guarantees that they receive the vitamins and minerals of juice with more fiber and fewer calories.
Similarly, bread products made from refined white flour have been stripped of fiber during processing. Whole grain products maintain their fiber content because the outer covering of the grain is not removed.
- Replacing white bread products with whole grain bread products will ensure that breakfast contains more fiber as well as many other important vitamins and minerals.
Where is the Better Breakfast Initiative taking place in Massachusetts?
The Gerard A Guilmette and Robert Frost Schools in Lawrence and the Charlton School in Southbridge pilot-tested the Better Breakfast Initiative during the 2004-05 school year. In 2005-06, the Better Breakfast Initiative was introduced at the Eastford Road School in Southbridge, the Garfield Elementary School in Revere, and the Fisher Hill, Dexter Park, and Butterfield Schools in Orange.
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Learn More
»  Download the Harvard Public Health Review article on the Better Breakfast Initiative.
» See the Better Meals Guidelines developed by Project Bread and the Harvard School of Public Health to improve the nutritional value of school meals.
» Email info@projectbread.org to find out how to get your school involved.
Related News
» Read the Spring 2006 Harvard Public Health Review article on the Better Breakfast Program.
» Chicopee schools introduce the Better Breakfast Initiative.
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