School Breakfast Program and school performance
A. F. Meyers, A. E. Sampson, M. Weitzman, B. L. Rogers and H. Kayne
Department of Pediatrics, Boston City Hospital, MA 02118.
To test the hypothesis that participation in the School Breakfast Program
by low-income children is associated with improvements in standardized
achievement test scores and in rates of absence and tardiness, children in
grades 3 through 6 were studied in the Lawrence, Mass, public schools,
where the School Breakfast Program was begun at the start of the second
semester 1986-1987 school year. The changes in scores on a standardized
achievement test and in rates of absence and tardiness before and after the
implementation of the School Breakfast Program for children participating
in the program were compared with those of children who also qualified but
did not participate. Controlling for other factors, participation in the
School Breakfast Program contributed positively to the 1987 Comprehensive
Tests of Basic Skills battery total scale score and negatively to 1987
tardiness and absence rates. These findings suggest that participation in
the School Breakfast Program is associated with significant improvements in
academic functioning among low-income elementary school children.
