Giving kids a better start to the day

Red Cross is helping children to live happier, fuller lives from the very beginning: at breakfast.

“I like cheese toasties,” says Vicky. “No,” says Mia. “Weetbix bites are the best, especially when you put them in smoothies.”

Other kids chime in, naming their favourite breakfast foods. They clearly love being part of the new Red Cross Good Start Breakfast Club at their primary school near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales.

The club was set up after staff noticed a large number of children arriving at school without having eaten breakfast. As a result they were tired, irritable, distracted, unable to settle into routines or learn. Teachers also reported the students looked pale and lacked energy.

So we worked with the school, Sanitarium and local suppliers and funders to offer the kids the chance to begin their school day with a healthy meal.

“The club has really brought the community together,” says school principal Carmel Stuckey. “We have local Red Cross members and parents helping as volunteers, and local businesses provide bread, fruit and milk alongside all the breakfast cereals.”

More than 30 per cent of the schoolchildren said they were not eating breakfast at home every day. Reasons ranged from families running out of food to simply being in too much of a rush in the mornings. Just four months after the club began, Carmel, along with the staff and volunteers, has seen a marked difference in the students.

“There are far more kids coming now,” she says. “We’re getting at least 60, sometimes 90 children, per day. We can see the difference between a kid who’s come to breakfast club and a kid who hasn’t. They’re happier and they’re better in class. Attendance at school is up too.”

“One time, we had dragon fruit,” says student Chloe. “No one had ever seen it before. Everyone was trying it.”

As well as providing a healthy meal, the breakfast club has other positive effects. “It gives children a chance to try healthier food they might not get at home, like fruit or smoothies,” says parent and volunteer Kylie. “Hopefully, they’ll take this knowledge back home and ask their parents about this kind of food for breakfast at weekends too.”

The club has also made the children more adventurous in their tastes. “Now they’re asking for kiwifruit, rockmelon and carrots, whereas before they just wanted apples and bananas,” says volunteer Mandy. “We make the smoothies more interesting by adding Weetbix or other cereals too.”

“Just sitting down, having a meal together and making new friends outside of their year group is beneficial,” says teacher and club coordinator Louise Luke.

Breakfast club volunteer Sandra agrees. “It provides a lovely social setting for the kids to start their day. They say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ a lot more now.”

The kids themselves are eager to explain why they like to eat with their schoolmates before the school day begins.

“When you’re hungry you can’t learn, you get tired,” says Leo (8). “When you have to rush out the door, you don’t get to have breakfast and then it’s hard to concentrate at school. Now I can get my work done.”

“When it’s cold, we have porridge and that keeps us warm,” says 11-year-old Melanie. “Some people come to school in the morning and they’re eating pies or chips — not stuff that helps you learn.”

Red Cross runs breakfast clubs around Australia, helping kids to learn good nutrition skills early in life. The clubs are open to all children, so those who often don’t get breakfast at home aren’t singled out.

Older kids volunteer to prepare and set out food, and clean up afterwards. “It makes kids more community minded, and encourages a sense of responsibility,” says Sandra.

“It’s part of our ethos of supporting the whole child,” says Carmel. “We’ll also be starting good food workshops from Red Cross this term.”

And as the bell rings to signal the start of class, the kids are off across the playground, bounding with energy and ready to start their day.

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Words by Gemma Pitcher — Australian Red Cross. All images: Australian Red Cross/Grant Higginson.