Free Breakfasts Pass Most Eligible Kids

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031106/ap_on_go_ot/missing_breakfast_1

WASHINGTON - Only 6.7 million of the 16 million low-income children eligible for free or discount breakfasts are getting them, an advocacy group said Thursday after reviewing government data.



"Some of them are getting breakfast at home, and some aren't," said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center. "We think every school should be offering breakfast to all kids. Achievement would be better and child health would be better."


Still, breakfast participation has doubled since 1987, when 3.2 million children were in the program overseen by the Agriculture Department. It reimburses schools for the meals.


The school breakfast program is like federal school lunch, which feeds 16 million low-income children. The children eating government-paid lunches at school qualify for breakfast, too.

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when parents or parent can't afford a box of Wheaties and some milk for their child's breakfast. Could be they are just too lazy to get out of bed to fix it. I know first hand, I work in a public school.

Free hot lunch as well -- back in the 70's.

The reason was that we were poor, not that my mother was lazy to get out of bed to fix breakfast (dad was elsewhere with a new family). We were lucky to be able to afford oil for the furnace, much less a 'box of Wheaties'.

Unlike most people, I looked forward to cafeteria food, and to this day, retain an odd hankering for that synthetic Salsbury steak. The opportunity to have a donut and milk got me to school early so I'd have a choice of them. Just so that no one tries to fit me into a stereotype, I was a white kid growing up in a small rural town in WI.

The best reason for these programs is not so much 'to take care of kids' (as if...). The best reason is because when kids are hungry, they don't learn, and if they don't learn, society as a whole suffers later (and it will end up costing far more than a free lunch program).

I can relate to you. Reading your answer brought back memories. In the 80s I couldn't even afford oil to heat the house. I had a fireplace and a neighbor who had converted to natural gas still had coal left over. I filled up 2 bags of it and heated one room for a couple of days. If it had not been for the breakfast and lunch programs my daughter probably would not have eaten. I will never forget that even though I would like to. And of course it happened on February 2nd, the coldest day of the year. I got more coal later and we lived in the den and slept on the sofa.

whether or not the parents (or probably, parent) are too lazy to fix breakfast, or it's due to some other reason, it's still the child that suffers for it.

and trust me when I say I have special feelings for all children. I wouldn't want any child to go hungry. (I keep extra snacks for the ones that forget) They shouldn't have to suffer because of uncaring parents. But I do know several families that are "lazy". Most children where I work are fairly well off. No excuses. Just easier to buy breakfast than to fix it themselves.