Do High School Students Participate in Second Chance Breakfast Programs?

Abstract

Breakfast consumption often decreases as youth get older. The School Breakfast Program (SBP) provides an opportunity to intervene and increase breakfast consumption, especially among high school students. Project breakFAST implemented an expanded breakfast service at 12 high schools. In this longitudinal evaluation, school administrators provided SBP participation and demographic data on all ninth and 10th graders for two full consecutive school years. Students screened for eating breakfast <3 times/week were randomly selected to participate in the cohort study. The cohort completed a survey on perceived barriers, benefits, and breakfast habits. At baseline, all 12 schools had only traditional before school cafeteria SBP service. Mean participation was 16.3% and ranged from 7.9 to 38.1%. After the intervention, there was an increase in participation to 25.7% (p=.004) ranging from 14.1 to 47.5%. There was no change in breakfast participation before school (13.3%, p=.06). Students who traveled to school by car, bike, or walking at baseline were 4.5% less likely to participate in second chance breakfast at follow-up than those who took the bus to school (p=.006). Second chance breakfast is an option for increasing high school breakfast participation, especially for those riding the bus.