We all know that children need a good breakfast to get the most out of their day. MummyPages were shocked to discover that almost 7 out of 10 teachers in Ireland (69%) believe that their students are coming to school hungry. When these teachers were asked why they thought students would arrive to school hungry, they cited the following reasons:- 37% believe that pupils are missing breakfast because of a lack of money at home
- 36% believe that it is due to apathy at home
- 23% believe it is due to a lack of time at home
Worryingly, 59% of teachers surveyed believe there has been an increase in the number of children coming to school hungry since last year. This survey was commissioned to coincide with the launch of Kellogg’s ‘Help give a child a breakfast’ campaign. This initiative has been running in the UK for a number of years, and now a dedicated pot of funding will be available to Irish breakfast clubs between now and January. Over €30,000 has been made available to support breakfast clubs in Ireland.
As everyone knows, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and not having breakfast can seriously affect a child’s performance in school. 83% of the teachers surveyed believe that hunger causes a decrease in concentration among pupils. 76% believe it causes a decrease in performance levels and 75% believe that it causes an increase in tiredness and lethargy. A further 54% said that hunger increases poor behaviour in the classroom. Alarmingly, a third of teachers admitted that they have brought food into school for hungry children.
Breakfast clubs have proven to be hugely successful in ensuring children are getting the right start to the day. However one in ten teachers surveyed said their breakfast club had to close, often due to funding issues.
Schools and community groups who are interested in applying for an award should visit www.giveachildabreakfast.ie for details on how to apply for funding.
Kellogg’s are now supporting the running of breakfast clubs, and have teamed up with Healthy Food for All to fund a pilot programme to establish four new breakfast clubs in North Dublin. Applications from schools are in the process of being assessed, so funding will be I place in to start serving breakfasts in January 2013. Healthy Food for All will monitor and evaluate the success of these clubs over a two year period.
