Hawaiʻi drops to 50th in the nation for school breakfast participation
Alternative breakfast models such as offering grab-and-go meals have helped boost participation rates in other states.
HONOLULU, Hawaiʻi – Even fewer low-income children in Hawaiʻi are starting their day with a healthy school breakfast. Hawaiʻi dropped from 49th to 50th in the nation for school breakfast participation among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the national School Breakfast Scorecard, released today by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC).
FRAC’s report finds that 26,170 low-income children in Hawaiʻi participated in the national School Breakfast Program on an average school day in 2017–2018, a 5 percent decrease from the previous year. That means that fewer than 40 low-income children in Hawaiʻi ate school breakfast for every 100 that received free or reduced-price school lunch during the 2017–2018 school year,
Hawaiʻi is far below the national average of 57 per 100. In fact, the top two states, West Virginia and New Mexico, had an 84 and a 70 percent participation rate, respectively, for their low-income lunch students also getting school breakfast. If Hawaiʻi could get our rate up to 70, nearly 20,000 additional low-income keiki would receive the benefits of school breakfast, and our state would draw down an additional $5.6 million per year in federal funds.
“All of our keiki deserve a good education that opens up opportunities for the rest of their lives, and school breakfast is an important tool that can help our students succeed,” said Nicole Woo, Senior Policy Analyst at Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice. “Some schools in our state have found new, successful ways to serve breakfast to their students, ensuring that they start the school day ready to learn. We strongly encourage other schools to follow their lead so that more of our children can benefit.”
Alternative breakfast models used in other states have been successful at moving the needle on school breakfast participation. These strategies include moving breakfast to after the first bell, or offering grab-and-go meals to overcome late bus arrivals and other reasons that children and teenagers get to school too late to sit down for breakfast in the cafeteria before class.
