The Better Breakfast Initiative

What is the Better Breakfast Initiative?

The Better Breakfast Initiative aims to improve the nutritional content of school breakfast by offering students an all-new breakfast menu based on guidelines developed in consultation with the Nutrition Department at the Harvard School of Public Health. The new breakfast menus feature low-sugar cereals, skim or 1% milk, and fresh fruit options such as: fruit smoothies, fruit salad, and assorted whole fruit. Food service directors are also required to eliminate products containing trans fat and provide at least three grams of fiber per breakfast. As a result of this initiative, schools have also begun to replace white bread in exchange for bread products made with whole grains. The nutritional guidelines introduced by the Better Breakfast Initiative are above and beyond the current USDA guidelines for school breakfast.

Where is the Better Breakfast Initiative taking place in Massachusetts?

The Gerard A Guilmette and Robert Frost Schools in Lawrence and the Charlton School in Southbridge pilot-tested the Better Breakfast Initiative during the 2004–05 school year. In 2005–06, the Better Breakfast Initiative was introduced at the Eastford Road School in Southbridge, the Garfield Elementary School in Revere, and the Fisher Hill, Dexter Park, and Butterfield Schools in Orange. The Better Breakfast Initiative was expanded to the Stefanik School in Chicopee in 2006-07. This year, Framingham Public Schools has implemented the Better Breakfast guidelines districtwide.

How has Better Breakfast Initiative affected participation in the breakfast program?

Food service directors should expect an initial adjustment period in the first few months following the menu change as students get used to the new food items. However, preparing students for the new menu will greatly ease the transition, and the extra breakfast promotion may even lead to increased participation. The following methods have proven successful at participating Better Breakfast Schools:

• Familiarize students with the new foods by hosting taste tests of new products and recipes before adding them to the menu
• Enlist the support of the principal, nurse, teachers, and student leaders to help you promote the Better Breakfast Initiative.
• Educate students, parents, and the rest of the school community about the reasons for the menu change and the importance of good nutrition.
• Host a kickoff breakfast featuring the new items and invite parents to sample the new foods with their children.

Are there additional costs associated with the Better Breakfast Initiative?

Whenever food service directors introduce new items to their menu, they must consider the costs associated with the new products and preparation methods. Whether or not the menu change will result in increased expenditure depends on what the food service director is currently serving. Switching from all processed foods and canned commodity fruit to freshly prepared items and whole fruit may affect your bottom line. However many of the changes required by the Better Breakfast Initiative, such as switching to 1% or skim milk and low sugar cereals, have had no financial impact at all. Participating food service directors have changed their menus in a variety of ways to keep within their own budgets.

How do I get involved?

If you would like to introduce the Better Breakfast Initiative at your school, please call the Child Nutrition Outreach Program at 617-723-5000 or email cnop@projectbread.org so that we can review and approve your menu.

Project Bread’s Better Breakfast Initiative Nutritional Guidelines: 2007-08

Food Service Directors are expected to follow the USDA’s nutritional guidelines for the School Breakfast Program. The menu changes outlined below are not a substitute for the federal guidelines. They are additional changes intended to improve the nutritional quality of school breakfast.

Required Menu Changes : The following guidelines must be met daily for each reimbursable breakfast.

• No trans fat. Product labels must state 0 grams trans fat per serving.
  
• At least 3 grams of fiber per reimbursable breakfast.

Milk (Fluid):

• Only skim or 1% milk. Flavored milk such as chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla may be served two times or less per week during breakfast.

Vegetables/Fruits:

• A fresh/frozen/dried fruit or vegetable without added fat, sugar, or excessive sodium must be served with each reimbursable breakfast. Canned fruit is acceptable as long as it is in juice, not syrup, and apple/fruit sauce must be unsweetened. Fruit or vegetable juice is not an acceptable substitute (even if it is 100% juice).

Grains/Breads:

• Breakfast cereal may contain no more than 5 grams of sugar unless it provides 3 or more grams of fiber.

Note: Low sugar versions of traditionally high sugar cereals are not acceptable even if they meet this guideline.

• Bread and bread products such as French toast sticks, waffles, pancakes, muffins, quick breads, bagels, etc. should contain whole grains whenever possible.

• French toast, waffles, or pancakes may only be served with ONE packet of syrup or with a fruit topping such as unsweetened applesauce.

• No donuts, breakfast pastries, croissants, or similar bakery items may be served during breakfast.

Note: ‘Healthy’ versions of these products (i.e. trans fat free, whole grain fruit pies, etc.) are not acceptable.

• All grain/bread products should contain no more than 35% sugar by weight and yogurt products should not contain more than 5 grams of sugar per ounce.

Note: A 37g (1.3oz) cereal bar with 13 g sugar meets this guideline (13g / 37g x 100 = 35%).

Yogurt should have no more than: 10 grams total sugar in 2 oz., 20 grams in 4 oz., and 30 grams in 6 oz.

• No items served may contain “dessert or candy type” ingredients or flavors such as chocolate, etc.

Better Breakfast Resources

Better Breakfast Recipes

Apricot Nut Squares
Banana Bread
Two-Grain Raisin Muffins
Granola
Breakfast Pizza
Strawberry Yogurt Shake
Breakfast Burrito

Better Breakfast Menu Ideas

Better Breakfast Sample Products

Better Breakfast Student Survey

For information about Project Bread's other Healthy Meals Initiatives, click here.

Why introduce additional guidelines?

The rate of childhood obesity has exploded among elementary, middle, and high school students nationwide. Since 1976, the prevalence of overweight has more than doubled among 6- to11-year-olds and tripled among 12- to 19-year-olds. As a result of this shift, children are now at a greater risk for many chronic diseases and health conditions associated with overweight and obesity including type II diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Overweight and obese students often experience ridicule from their peers and low self-esteem.

The Better Breakfast Initiative establishes good nutrition as an important part of the school day. By featuring foods and beverages that are part of a healthy diet, schools help students establish positive eating habits that contribute to a lifetime of overall better health.

How do the Better Breakfast Initiative guidelines improve the existing School Breakfast Program?

Breakfasts served as part of the School Breakfast Program are required to meet nutritional guidelines set by the federal government. Because the guidelines are relatively broad, however, foods that are high in calories and fat but low in nutrition are frequently incorporated into school breakfast menus. The Better Breakfast guidelines were created to address this concern. The following section highlights several strategies for improving the nutritional content of school breakfast.

High sugar cereals

The Problem: Frosted or sweetened cereals contain a lot of added sugar. This added sugar leads to rapid changes in blood sugar levels that rise quickly and then “crash” as blood sugar falls below the normal range. The result? Students experience an immediate surge in energy followed by lethargy, poor concentration, and hunger.

The Solution: Low-sugar cereals and/or high fiber cereals create a smaller spike in blood sugar, thereby avoiding the dramatic fluctuations in students’ energy levels. Added sugar also contributes many calories to the diet without providing any nutritional value. These “empty calories” can be avoided by choosing cereals that are lower in refined sugar.

Saturated Fats

The Problem: Saturated fat, most often found in animal products (meat and dairy) and tropical plant oils (palm and coconut), has been shown to raise LDL or “bad” cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease.

The Solution: Breakfast pastries, doughnuts, and cinnamon rolls tend to contain lots of saturated fat. Reducing the amount of these sweet treats on your menu can eliminate some saturated fat from the diet. Whole milk also contains high levels of saturated fat. Skim and 1% milk contain all of the nutrients of whole milk with less saturated fat and fewer calories.

Trans Fats

The Problem: Most trans fats are a product of a chemical process called hydrogenation. Food manufacturers use this technique to create foods with a longer shelf life. Trans fats tend to increase LDL or “bad” cholesterol and decrease HDL or “good” cholesterol. Because of their additional effect on HDL, trans fats pose an even greater risk to heart health than saturated fats.

The Solution: Eliminating processed foods such as pastries, doughnuts, and muffins that contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils will reduce the amount of trans fat in the breakfast menu.

Low Fiber

Fiber — found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains — aids in digestion and has been shown to decrease the risk of cancer and heart disease. Since fiber contributes bulk to the diet and creates the feeling of fullness, it may contribute to healthy weight and increased satiety.

The Problem: 100% fruit juice, despite its plentiful vitamins and minerals, has a high concentration of naturally occurring sugar and contains very little fiber. Without fiber, juice lacks one of the significant benefits of whole fruit. 100% juice also contains more calories than whole fruit because of its high sugar content. Similarly, bread products made from refined white flour have been stripped of fiber during processing. Whole grain products maintain their fiber content because the outer covering of the grain is not removed.

The Solution: Offering students whole fruit guarantees that they receive the vitamins and minerals of juice with more fiber and fewer calories. Replacing white bread products with whole grain bread products will ensure that breakfast contains more fiber as well as many other important vitamins and minerals.