Little Miri finishes supper at about seven o'clock. She goes
to bed soon after and wakes up at seven-thirty because she
has to catch the school bus at eight. Of course, this first
part of the day is rushed and Miri only feels like having a
drink before she leaves for school. Miri's mother sends her
off with a chocolate- spread sandwich and an apple for her
first recess.
The school day starts with tefilla and then there is a
lesson on Chumash until morning break at 10:00 when
the children eat their sandwiches. A simple calculation shows
that every day Miri undergoes a 15 hour fast, from 7:00 p.m.
until 10:00 a.m. and then she only has a chocolate-spread
sandwich and an apple and a drink of water from the water
fountain.
Miri does not complain about being hungry or thirsty. Miri's
mother used to try to get her daughter to eat some breakfast
and even tried to tempt her with different types of cereals,
but Miri always said that she did not feel like eating.
Probably, Miri feels the stress of having to get ready on
time and having to catch the school bus.
Children all over the world are going to school without
breakfast. Some miss it because their families cannot afford
to give their children food. Others miss it because the
children leave without eating. Whatever the reason, the
result is the same -- effectively, the children are going to
school undernourished and hypoglycemic.
Studies have shown that improving the diet of toddlers and
school children can help their learning and behavior, as well
as their growth.
Just missing a single breakfast can have adverse effects on a
child's school performance. In young children, malnutrition
dulls motivation and curiosity, and reduces play and
exploratory activities. Impairment of mental and cognitive
development is one of the results of this. Severe
undernourishment, lacking protein and calories as well as
micronutrients, can permanently inhibit growth and physical
and intellectual development in general.
Iron deficiency impairs brain development and working
capacity. Iodine deficiency causes cretinism as well as other
forms of learning disability. Deficiencies of essential fatty
acids affect intelligence and vision. Deficiencies of
vitamins and minerals can affect learning capacity in a
variety of ways. People with low intakes of vitamin B1
(thiamin), for example, soon show an inability to
concentrate, confusion of thought, uncertainty of memory,
anorexia, irritability and depression.
In adolescents, personality changes that resulted in
aggressive behavior have been successfully treated with
thiamin. Diets lacking in vitamin B2 (riboflavin) are
associated with changes in personality, as are those low in
vitamin C. People with low vitamin C intakes may also
experience poor reaction times and increased fatigue. Poor
cognitive development has also been linked to deficiencies of
zinc and selenium. Micronutrient deficiencies may have
independent, as well as cumulative, interactive effects on
learning and behavior.
Many government bodies are reacting by promoting and often
subsidizing in-school breakfasting. Apart from the
moral/social aspect, they expect to see a good return on
their investment through reduction in disciplinary and
learning problems and the necessity for expensive
remediation.
Schools in Maryland, USA, participated in a program called
the Maryland Meals for Achievement program (MMFA), in which
breakfasts were served in classrooms. Researchers reported
that there was an 8% decline in coming late to school in
those schools during the first three full months of the
school year. Three months after the start of classroom
breakfast, suspensions were down from an average 4.4 days per
month to 2.8 per month -- a decrease of 1.6 days per month
per school. Researchers report that Maryland School
Performance Assessment Program Composite Index scores (a
score that averages all students across all grades and all
subjects) improved significantly.
Though at first apprehensive, when teachers saw the effect
breakfasting had on their students, they became strong
proponents of the scheme. One teacher reported that
`breakfast time' gives her a chance to assess the class
before she begins the lessons. "It is a time to interact with
the kids and to really know what is going on at home. If you
had a problem with a child the day before, it gives you a
chance to set him/her on the right track for that day."
Another teacher, who had been worried about the additional
responsibilities, said that MMFA is definitely worth the
effort. "I felt I had enough to do with preparing for
teaching, and to have breakfast in my classroom would just be
extra work and a big mess," the teacher explained. "But I
found that I barely have to do any work at all, and the kids
are so much better behaved that my lessons go much
smoother."
Administrators reported that school breakfast played a major
role in the 40-50% decline in discipline issues. One
principal reported just after the start of the program that
the in-school breakfasting has "greatly enhanced the
educational environment" in her school. She credited MMFA
with improving attendance, decreasing tardiness and
discipline referrals, and helping students to be more alert.
This was confirmed by formal studies which showed that
students who participated in the breakfast program showed
significantly improved math grades, decreased absences and
tardiness, and decreased behavioral and psychological
problems. Researchers also noted a general increase in
composite math and reading percentile scores.
In a supplementary memorandum to the Select Committee on
Education and Employment of the U.K. House of Parliament, Dr.
Michael Nelson wrote that recent evidence from the US and the
UK shows that cognitive function is poor in children with
poor dietary status even though they had no overt signs of
deficiency, and that intervention to improve diet, for
example, by supplying breakfast, results in improved
cognitive function and learning ability. Iron deficiency is
the most thoroughly documented nutritional cause of poor
cognitive function and scholastic achievements.
Dr. Nelson stressed that ensuring good cognitive function
requires feeding guidelines which promote healthy eating
patterns and adequate nutrient intakes. In his report, Dr.
Nelson summarized papers presented at an International
Symposium on Breakfast and Performance in 1995 and integrated
them with data published since that time. "The pooled data
suggest that omitting breakfast interferes with cognition and
learning." He adds that missing breakfast is associated with
poorer performance on short term memory, visual
discrimination or competing stimuli, verbal fluency, tasks of
arithmetic, and stimulus discrimination.
Of course, Chazal have already told us about the importance
of pas shacharis, morning bread, but sometimes we need
these secular studies to remind us how unwise it is to short-
cut their advice.
