I was happy to comment on this report for the Greggs Foundation. Moving forward if the Labour Party gets elected as the new government in July, and introduces free breakfast clubs in all primary schools then it would be worthwhile exploring how the government can work with existing charities such as Greggs Foundation , Magic Breakfast Kellogg Company and school catering companies to add additional value to Labour's commitment to ensure children are not too hungry to learn (secondary pupils are also hungry and a new report from the Nuffield Foundation showed the widening educational gap in this age group. Plus new research is showing the importance of the first 8000 days for child development). It is often forgotten or neglected that children and young people learn across the school day. The effects of breakfast consumption in terms of cognition varies according to the food consumed, but generally has worn of by late morning so the role of food across the school day needs to be considered both in terms of dietary intake but also in terms of cognition, development, sleep and well-being. Planning food across the day in terms of cognition and learning, and the school curriculum will be the most effective approach.The question should not be breakfast or lunch. Rather how can we, by working together across organisations ensure that children and young people have a nutritious, balanced diet across the school day and wrap around school services, preventing double breakfasting and ensuring nutritious food is served at all times. A coherent and integrated approach that takes a gestalt view across the different interventions, including food education, the fruit and veg scheme, would be an important step to enable the Department for Education to plan food services into schools to support children's dietary intake, cognition and learning. If we are serious about school food providing a nutritional safety net that supports child development and learning then we need to take a coherent and integrated approach across the school day and wrap around school services.
🌟 Exciting News! 🌟 Our 2023 Impact Report is out now! Discover how the Greggs Foundation grant programmes supported local community organisations, helped children have a brighter start in our Breakfast Clubs, and extended a helping hand with Hardship Grants. Read all about the positive impact we're making together! https://bit.ly/3VXFIdT
Myles Bremner
2mo
Important comments Professor Greta Defeyter 1. It’s about the whole 8,000 days of child development. And 2. You need good nutrition throughout the day. And I shall be using #gestalt as my new word 😃😃
Independent consultant, youth health research & policy
2moCompletely agree with you on this Professor Greta Defeyter. So important, and thank you for sharing. We have been working with Newham public health department on a The Health Foundation Local Government Association project to understand food insecurity in secondary school aged young people - we wrote a blog about secondary schools as food havens recently that similarly argues for a more whole-school approach https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/blogs/could-secondary-school-food-havens-help-improve-food-security