Kellogg's Breakfast Clubs
Getting the most out of your breakfast club
Kellogg’s has been working with ContinYou since 1999 striving to demonstrate the benefits that “Breakfast Culture” can have on children, young people and family life.
These benefits fall into four main areas:
- School attendance
- Punctuality
- Concentration
- Academic performance
Kellogg's has provided significant support to ContinYou's development of nationwide breakfast club initiatives. These have included the development of Breakfast Club Plus, the Breakfast Movers Essential Guide and funding the national award scheme.
To find out more about how to get the best out of your breakfast club, or to set one up, visit www.breakfastclubplus.org.uk. There are over 40 pages of tools, information and resources to help your club stay happy and healthy.
What makes a good breakfast club?
The heroes of any breakfast clubs are those that help to make them happen, whether they are teachers, other school and community professionals, community group members, parents, grandparents or young people themselves.
The success of breakfast clubs comes from making those who attend feel engaged and included, as well as ensuring they start the day with a healthy, nutritious breakfast.
Breakfast clubs – the facts
- Since 1999, Kellogg's has invested more than £400,000 into the development of breakfast clubs throughout the UK. A breakfast club is a scheme, normally run by teachers or volunteers in schools or community settings where children can go before school and be guaranteed a breakfast.
- As well as funding the establishment of breakfast clubs, Kellogg’s and ContinYou have established an on-line resource for anyone who wants to know more about running breakfast clubs.
- Over the course of an academic year, between 3,000 and 5,000 children are served breakfasts at Kellogg’s and ContinYou supported breakfast clubs. This equates to approximately half a million children per academic year who otherwise may have missed out this important meal.
- 82% of parents think school breakfast clubs are a good way for busy or working parents to ensure their children eat breakfast before they begin their lessons2.
Learning benefits
- Research from Kellogg’s, ContinYou and the New Policy Institute, into the impact of breakfast clubs revealed four demonstrable benefits for schools and children – improved attendance, punctuality, concentration and academic performance during the morning lessons.
- In 2005, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Ruth Kelly MP launched a prospectus on 'Extended Schools: Access to Opportunities and Services to All'. It features proposals to extend the opening hours of schools from 8am to 6pm, in order to offer a range of activities and services to pupils, their families and the wider community. Breakfast clubs clearly have a major role to play in the Government’s plans.
- Breakfast clubs in schools are considered to be one of the most effective environments for promoting healthy and nutritional eating, for enriching and extending the curriculum through informal learning, and for tackling issues of social exclusion and academic underachievement.
- In 2006 Kellogg’s and ContinYou are aiming to set up at least 100 new breakfast clubs.
Kids at breakfast time – get the facts
- One in four children eat chocolate and crisps for breakfast1 and UK children are spending £500 million a year in local shops on the way to school on food.3
- One in five children currently skips breakfast – that’s 3 million children each day.4
- Children who skip breakfast are more likely to snack on calorie dense products later in the day and are more likely to be obese.3
- 52% of parents find it difficult to get their children to sit down and eat breakfast in the morning.1 The main reason given for skipping breakfast is lack of time5.
- Breakfast is the most rushed meal, and the cheapest meal of the day (averaging at 46p). However, nutritionists recommend breakfast should make up a quarter of your daily nutrient intake.6
1 Raising Kids Survey, January 2006
2 Doctor Patient Partnership Survey, May 2001
3 Sodexho School Meals and Lifestyle Survey, 2005
4 Office for National Statistics, 2004
5 Kellogg’s Family Health Study, 2004
6 Future Foundation Report, The Future of Breakfast, 2004