Abstract
The provision of school breakfast has become increasingly popular in the UK in recent years. However, UK-based studies highlighting the views of parents, children, and school staff on school breakfast clubs are lacking. The current study set out to address this dearth in the literature by investigating the views of these key user and stakeholder groups on breakfast clubs within the North East of England. Fourteen parents, 21 children, and 17 school staff were recruited from four primary schools where breakfast clubs were available on site. Parents and school staff took part in semistructured interviews and children participated in focus groups, through which the advantages and disadvantages of breakfast clubs were discussed. Thematic analysis revealed that breakfast clubs provided children with a settled and enjoyable start to the school day. As well as providing children with a healthy and varied breakfast meal and unique opportunities for social interaction, breakfast clubs were recognized as an integral part of the school system that offered support to parents, particularly those who worked and relied on breakfast clubs as a means of affordable and reliable childcare. The few disadvantages identified related to practical issues such as a lack of adherence to school food standards, breakfast club staff missing class preparation time and concerns that some children were being excluded from participating in breakfast clubs particularly due to costs associated with attendance. The findings are discussed in relation to the School Food Plan, and areas for further investigation are proposed.
Highlights
Breakfast consumption has been associated with a multitude of health-related benefits, including improved nutrient intake [1], increased moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [2], and improved mood [3]
It is especially important that the identities of our participants are protected as some raised issues with breakfast club practices that brought into question the decisions made by school senior management teams
The current study aimed to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of school breakfast clubs according to parents, children and school staff
Summary
Breakfast consumption has been associated with a multitude of health-related benefits, including improved nutrient intake [1], increased moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [2], and improved mood [3]. Despite such benefits, breakfast remains the meal that is most regularly skipped [4], which is concerning as breakfast omission has been linked to such problems as increased risk of coronary heart disease [5] and increased body mass index [6]. Studies have shown that children who attend breakfast clubs eat a higher proportion of healthy food items such as cereals and fruits for breakfast than children who do not attend breakfast clubs [7, 8]. Though it has been reported that some breakfast clubs serve foods that are nutritionally poor, leading children who attend these clubs to consume more saturated fat and salt than children who do not attend [9]
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