Posted May 16, 2009
21-day Challenge supports Breakfast for Learning
The Better Breakfast Challenge, a national public education and fundraising campaign launching today, is out to change the poor morning nutrition of Canadian children. The Challenge has two goals: to encourage all Canadian families to eat a healthy breakfast every day and to support the breakfast programs of Breakfast for Learning.
The Better Breakfast Challenge seeks to address the disturbing statistic that 31 per cent of elementary and 62 per cent of secondary students do not eat breakfast every day.
A new study(1) of Canadian breakfast eating habits found that 90 per cent of Canadian parents believe eating breakfast is very important to their child’s daily health, mental performance and emotional state(2). That’s the inspiration behind the Better Breakfast Challenge, which encourages parents to help kids eat a healthy breakfast 21 days in a row (based on the common wisdom that it takes that long to form a new habit).
“We know that nutrition habits decline as kids age,” says Jodi Robinson, a Toronto-based Registered Dietitian, “so it’s really important for parents to set children up for future nutrition success by getting them into a routine of eating a daily breakfast that includes three to four of the foods groups from Canada’s Food Guide.”
Date: May 13, 2009 has helped nourish more than 1.5 million children and youth since its inception.
There is a strong need for funding to support meal programs in Canada. The demand for child nutrition programs far surpasses funding currently available through the Breakfast for Learning grant program with only 27% of requests across the country awarded in 2008.
“Through participating in the Better Breakfast Challenge, families are helping ensure that students across the country get the proper nutrition they need for healthy development,” says Wendy
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SOURCE: Harbinger Communications Inc. Copyright © 2009 CNW Group. All rights reserved.
