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Partnerships with school breakfast programs help ensure more children get the nutrients they need

We have all heard it many times before, that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating a nutritious breakfast sets the tone for your day, promotes good health, and keeps hunger and weight in check. Yet, in Canada, one out of seven children goes to school with an empty stomach. 1

Children need proper nourishment to help provide them with the mental and physical energy to be at their best. Eating a well-balanced breakfast can increase a child’s concentration level and attention span, which can help improve memory, problem-solving skills, school attendance and test scores.2

Our partnership with school breakfast programs across the country ensure more children have access to a nourishing breakfast to start their day. We work closely with egg farmers and partners to grow our community programs, so we can help more kids get a healthy breakfast that includes nutritious eggs.

“Eggs are a natural, fresh food that provide high quality protein and 14 important nutrients such as vitamin B12, vitamin A, iron and folate,” said Kim Kesseler, Registered Dietician with EFC. “These nutrients help keep children healthy and active, well-nourished and ready to learn.”

A large egg provides 6 grams of high-quality protein, and eating a breakfast rich in protein helps kids stay full and satisfied, so they can concentrate on learning. Children who are undernourished have difficulty focusing on tasks, have lower self-esteem and are absent from school more often.3

Making sure that a nutrient-dense breakfast, like eggs, is available to more children has the potential to create positive effects far beyond improved performance at school. Eggs are one of the few foods considered to be a complete protein, because they contain all 9 essential amino acids. Amino acids are considered the “building blocks for the body.”

Protein not only gives you energy, it also helps you:

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¹ 2013 Report Card on Child and Family poverty in Canada, “Canada’s Real Economic Action Plan Begins with Poverty Eradication”, Family Service Toronto, 2013, 21 pages.
2 Politt E, Matthews R. Breakfast and cognition: an integrative summary. Am J Clin Nut 1998; 67 (suppl):804S-13S.
3 School Nutrition Handbook, Calgary Health Region, 2005