A healthy breakfast is vital to getting your body and your brain moving. In fact, research has found that behavioral, emotional, mental and academic problems are more prevalent among children struggling with hunger.
At the Child Crisis Early Head Start centers many of the children in our programs come from what the U.S. Department of Agriculture identifies as “low income/low access” areas, meaning families must use public transportation to access grocery stores more than one-half mile distant. This limits food choices and creates a dependency on fast food or foods that are filling but nutritionally deficient. That’s why in all our Early Education Programs we’re happy to serve a balanced breakfast and lunch every day.
Great learning opportunities come from eating as a family or a group, All the meals in our Early Education Center are served-family style, at a table, which is best practice to promote social skills, fine motor skills, manners, and language and vocabulary development.
Students as young as age 1 and 2 years old start their day by carefully washing their hands and then sitting down at the table with their peers, serving themselves food and passing the dish to their classmates.
Studies have shown students who participate in school breakfast have improved attendance, behavior, alertness, memory and academic performance as well as decreased tardiness, according to the Food Research and Action Center.
Food service for our non EHS preschool classrooms at Child Crisis Arizona are made possible through generous donations from the community. You can learn more about how you can help at https://childcrisisaz.org/how-you-can-help/donate/.
