Federal Free and Reduced Lunch: Does it Improve Academic Success?

The Federal Free and Reduced Price Lunch Program:

Does it Improve Academic Success?

 

Nutrition Research

 

Good nutrition supports academic success. Research completed at Tufts University shows that good nutrition supports brain development and improves children's academic success. According to the university's study "Even nutritional deficiencies of a relatively short-term nature influence children's behavior, ability to concentrate, and to perform complex tasks." This study shows the importance that food has on children's academic progress. Parents are encouraged to provide a nutritious breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day, along with healthy snacks. Parents and teachers need to teach children about the importance of good nutrition – what they should and should not eat and why eating a healthy diet provides energy, balances moods, and improves school performance.

 

Children experience rapid growth from infancy into the teen years. Poor nutrition can lead to lack of energy, weak bones and teeth, cavities, delayed sexual maturity, obesity, and reduced intellectual performance. Less than 25% of 8^th through12th graders report eating the recommended amounts of vegetables, fruits, milk products, and grains! School meals can help provide a healthy, balanced diet for students.

 

Socioeconomic Status and Academic Success

 

A family's income (socioeconomic status) has been shown to be a predictor of academic success. Low income families have little money to purchase study materials, pay for tutoring, or provide adequate amounts of healthy foods for their children. To address this problem, many low income students are eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Price Lunch and Breakfast Programs. Whether the food is free or costs a small amount depends on each family's income level. Some low income students get only these two healthy meals each day and without the program would suffer from malnutrition, leading to lack of school success. Up to 40% of the differences in academic scores between schools may be due to the participation level in the free and reduced price lunch program, along with attendance rates. When children's basic nutritional needs are met, they have the cognitive energy to achieve in school. Healthy, well-nourished children are more likely to attend school, are more motivated to do well, and are more successful academically. Hence, it is in schools' best interests to promote enrollment in these programs.

 

10 Ways to Promote Good Nutrition

 

How can schools and communities provide good nutrition for students from low income families?

 

1. Encourage enrollment in the Federal Free and Reduced Price Lunch and Breakfast Programs (FRPLP) by recommending the programs to parents and helping them enroll. Provide translators for parents who don't speak English. At the same time, parents can be encouraged to apply for food stamps and given instructions on how to do so.

 

2. Since many junior and senior high school students are embarrassed to participate in the FRPLP, they miss meals that could help them succeed academically. This problem is lessened at schools in which most of the students are enrolled in the program. Make participation possible in ways that participating students are not singled out and that others cannot tell who is or is not in the program. For example, every student eating lunch is given a number that is checked off. Students in the program are tracked by their numbers and no one knows which numbers indicate program enrollment.

3. Communities can support food drives and summer and weekend lunch programs.

 

4. Establish a "slush" fund at the school in case a child doesn't have money for the "reduced" price lunch.

 

5. Give students opportunities to earn money for snacks and meals by completing chores at school, tutoring other students, maintaining good attendance, improving grades, or doing community service. Businesses should be encouraged to donate funds.

 

6. Encourage "team" parents or local businesses to provide healthy snacks for children after sports' practices.

 

7. Give students choices of what to eat. Many schools have a "line" for the standard lunch and a "line" for those who want to choose their food from several offered choices.

 

8. Offer only healthy meals and snacks. Eliminate soda machines and replace them with water, juice, and milk machines. Rent food machines with healthy snacks, including: fruit, granola bars, pretzels, yoghurt, cheese, whole grain muffins, nuts, etc.

 

9. Revise school menus to make them as healthy as possible. Serve green vegetables whenever the lunch entrée is a starch. Pizza should have whole-wheat crust and vegetable toppings; cookies can be oatmeal raisin; whole-wheat breads should be served; offer low-sugar cereals; and all milk products should be low fat. Limit red meat meals in favor of fish and chicken.

 

10. Incorporate nutritional education into the curriculum from kindergarten through 12^th grade.

To learn more about good nutrition and the Federal Free and Reduced Price Lunch and Breakfast Programs and how they reduce the achievement gap between majority and minority students, read Close the Gap: Multiple Ways to Close the Achievement Gap by Mylai Tenner, M.Ed.