III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 98 

To express the sense of the Senate regarding the school breakfast program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 10, 2011 

Mr. KOHL (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. HARKIN, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, and Mr. BROWN of Ohio) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 

Forestry 

RESOLUTION 

To express the sense of the Senate regarding the school 

breakfast program. 

Whereas participants in the school breakfast program established by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 

(42 U.S.C. 1773) include public, private, elementary, 

middle, and high schools, as well as rural, suburban, and 

urban schools; 

Whereas in each of the school years beginning July 1, 2008, 

and July 1, 2009, 86.3 percent of schools that participated in the school lunch program established under the 

Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 

U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) also participated in the school 

breakfast program; 


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•SRES 98 IS 

Whereas in each of the school years beginning July 1, 2008, 

and July 1, 2009, approximately 10,800,000 students in 

more than 86,000 schools participated in the school 

breakfast program on a typical day; 

Whereas in fiscal year 2009, approximately 9,100,000 low-income children in the United States consumed free or reduced price school breakfasts on an average school day; 

Whereas for every 100 children receiving free and reduced 

price lunches, approximately 47 children receive free and 

reduced price breakfasts; 

Whereas in each of the school years beginning July 1, 2008, 

and July 1, 2009, less than half of eligible low-income 

children received breakfasts at school each day; 

Whereas in fiscal year 2009, 62 percent of school lunches 

served, and 81 percent of school breakfasts served, were 

served to students who qualified for free or reduced 

priced meals; 

Whereas the current economic situation (including the increase in families living below the poverty line) is causing 

more families to struggle to feed their children and to 

turn to schools for assistance; 

Whereas implementing or improving classroom breakfast programs has been shown to increase the participation of eligible students in breakfast consumption dramatically, 

doubling, and in some cases tripling, numbers, as evidenced by research conducted in the States of Minnesota, 

New York, and Wisconsin; 

Whereas making breakfast widely available through different 

venues or combinations, such as in the classroom, obtained as students exit a school bus, or outside the classroom, has been shown to lessen the stigma of receiving 


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•SRES 98 IS 

free or reduced price breakfasts, which often deters eligible students from obtaining traditional breakfasts in the 

cafeteria; 

Whereas providing free universal breakfasts, especially in the 

classroom, has been shown to significantly increase school 

breakfast participation rates and decrease absences and 

tardiness; 

Whereas studies have shown that access to nutritious meals 

under the school lunch program and the school breakfast 

program helps to create a strong learning environment 

for children and helps to improve the concentration of 

children in the classroom; 

Whereas providing breakfast in the classroom has been shown 

in several instances to improve attentiveness and academic performance, while reducing tardiness and disciplinary referrals; 

Whereas students who eat a complete breakfast have been 

shown to make fewer mistakes and work faster in math 

exercises than students who eat a partial breakfast; 

Whereas studies suggest that eating breakfast closer to classroom and test-taking time improves student performance 

on standardized tests relative to students who skip breakfasts; 

Whereas studies show that students who skip breakfasts are 

more likely to have difficulty distinguishing among similar images, show increased errors, and have slower memory recall; 

Whereas children who live in families that experience hunger 

have been shown to be more likely to have lower math 

scores, face an increased likelihood of repeating a grade, 

and receive more special education services; 


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•SRES 98 IS 

Whereas studies suggest that children who eat breakfasts 

have more adequate nutrition and intake of nutrients, 

such as calcium, fiber, protein, and vitamins A, E, D, 

and B–6; 

Whereas studies show that children who participate in school 

breakfast programs eat more fruits, drink more milk, and 

consume less saturated fat than children who do not eat 

breakfast; 

Whereas children who fail to eat breakfasts, whether in 

school or at home, are more likely to be overweight than 

children who eat a healthy breakfast on a daily basis; and 

Whereas March 7 through March 11, 2011, is National 

School Breakfast Week: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the importance of the school 

3 breakfast program established by section 4 of the 

4 Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) and 

5 the overall positive impact of the program on the 

6 lives of low-income children and families, as well as 

7 the effect of the program on helping to improve the 

8 overall classroom performance of a child; 

9 (2) expresses support for States that have suc10 cessfully implemented school breakfast programs in 

11 order to improve the test scores and grades of par12 ticipating students; 

13 (3) encourages States— 

14 (A) to strengthen school breakfast pro15 grams by improving access for students; 


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•SRES 98 IS 

1 (B) to promote improvements in the nutri2 tional quality of breakfasts served; and 

3 (C) to inform students and parents of 

4 healthy nutritional and lifestyle choices; 

5 (4) recognizes that the Healthy, Hunger-Free 

6 Kids Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–296) and 

7 amendments made by that Act provide low-income 

8 children with greater access to a nutritious breakfast 

9 nationwide; 

10 (5) recognizes the impact of nonprofit and com11 munity organizations that work to increase aware12 ness of, and access to, breakfast programs for low13 income children; and 

14 (6) recognizes that National School Breakfast 

15 Week celebrated from March 7 through March 11, 

16 2011, helps draw attention to the need for, and suc17 cess of, the school breakfast program. 

Æ 


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