Home › About NHPS › Departments › Food Services

Breakfast


 
 

You’ve heard it before, and it’s true! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Studies have proven that eating breakfast is closely linked to children’s healthy body weights, improved mental alertness, and physical performance.(1,2,3,4)   This means your child is more likely to maintain a healthy weight, pay attention and perform better in class, and have more fun by having the energy to be active in play. Breakfast also provides a nutritious start to the day providing kids with great doses of essential vitamins and nutrients. It was discovered that kids who skip breakfast don’t make up for the missed nutrients later in the day.(4,5,6)

 

We offer great breakfast options to daily. Including; 
 

  • Whole grain rich foods that provide students with lasting energy for their day with a great source of Fiber and B- Vitamins. Our whole-grain options include; 
    •  Reduced sugar, whole grain cereals, such as the Kellogg’s options listed below. Each cereal lists a whole grain as the first ingredient!
    • Whole grain bagels, perfect to top with our Sunbutter for a Fiber-rich sandwich!
    • Whole grain graham crackers.
    • Some schools even offer warm breakfast options; such as whole grain French toast sticks, whole grain pancakes, and oatmeal.
      *100% of the grain items are verified to be whole-grain rich, offering at least 8g of whole grains per serving.
  • Fruit that offers students a sweet way to eat Fiber and Vitamin C, also giving energy to start their day! Fruit options we offer for breakfast include;

    •  Fresh, whole pieces of fruit such as bananas, apples, oranges, and pears. These are a great portable fruit option for students to take with them to class filled with Fiber!
    •  Fruit cups already portioned to offer more variety such as mandarin oranges, peaches, pineapple, and fruit salad.
    •  We offer 4-ounce juice boxes of 100% fruit juice, including apple or orange juice. Both juice options are great sources of Vitamin C.
    • Raisins.
    • Reduced-sugar applesauce in fun flavors such as cinnamon and strawberry.
  • Each student is also offered a 1 cup carton of milk. Our milk options are unflavored, skim or low-fat 1%, to ensure our students are getting the best nutrition possible.

    • Milk is a great source of Protein, Calcium, Vitamin A, and Vitamin D. All these nutrients are essential for each child to continue to grow and play strong. Having milk for breakfast also helps students meet their recommended 2-3 servings a day!
  • We also offer protein rich foods for breakfast, students love these options to complete their meal and help keep them full until lunch. We offer;

    • Sunflower seeds and Sunbutter, as our nut-free option for protein and healthy fats.
    • Yogurt, we offer fat-free flavored and Greek yogurts for some protein and calcium.
    • We also offer low-fat cheese sticks as another healthy dose of protein and calcium for breakfast.

*Every breakfast meal meets nationally specified targets for sodium, calorie, and saturated/trans-fats.

 
 
We have good news! We are excited to offer Kellogg’s® cereals as part of our daily breakfast menu. Your child will enjoy the taste of Kellogg’s® and you’ll like the nutritional benefits.  Cereal helps children get valuable nutrients they might otherwise miss. In fact, cereal with milk is the leading source of 10 nutrients in the diets of U.S. children, including vitamins A, B6, B12 and D, riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, folate, iron and zinc. It is unlikely that any other two foods contribute as much.(8) Also, the majority of Kellogg’s® cereals have at least a 2 grams of fiber and 8 grams of whole grain; more than any other cereal manufacturer.  A few of the cereals we offer are:
 

  • Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal –  21 grams whole grain, 3 grams of fiber
  • Frosted Flakes Multi-Grain Reduced Sugar cereal – 9 grams whole grain, 2 grams of fiber
  • Apple Jacks Reduced Sugar cereal – 8 grams whole grain, 2 grams of fiber
  • Froot Loops Reduced Sugar cereal – 8 grams whole grain, 2 grams of fiber

 
At New Haven Public Schools, we understand many parents are concerned about the amount of sugar in the foods we serve, but the fact is sugar in ready-to-eat cereals – including kids’ cereals – contributes less than 5% of daily sugar intake.(10) Research shows that cereal eaters, including those who eat “presweetened” cereals, actually have healthier body weights.(12)
 
 
1 Kennedy E, Davies C. US Department of Agriculture School Breakfast Program. Proceedings of the Napa Valley Symposium Cognition and School Learning 1995. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998;67:743S-5S. 2 Wyon DP, Abrahamsson L, Jartelius M, Fletcher R. (1997) An experimental study of the effect of energy intake at breakfast
on the test performance of 10-year-old children in school. Int J Food Sc Nutr., 1997; 48:5-12. 3 Ma Y, Betrone ER, Stanek EJ 3rd, Reed GW, Hebert JR, Cohen NL, Merriam PA, Ockene IS. Association between eating patterns and obesity in a free-living U.S. adult population. Am J, Epidemiol. 2003;158:85-92. 4 Cho S, Dietrich M, Brown CJ, Clark CA, Block G. The effect of breakfast type on total energy intake and body mass index: results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). J Am Coll Nutr.2003;22:296-302. 5 Matthews R. Importance of breakfast to cognitive performance and health. Perspectives in Applied Nutrition, 1996;3(3):204-212. 6 Preziosi P, Galan P. Deheeger M. Yacoub N, Drewnowski A, Hercberg S. Breakfast type, daily nutrient intakes and vitamin
and mineral status of French children, adolescents and adults. J Am Coll Nutr. 1999;18:171-78. 7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. Hyattsville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, [2005-06] [http.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes]. 8 NHANES, 2003-2004. 9 Based upon 80.7% share of cereal category in the U.S. according to IRI, 52 weeks ending February 22, 2009. 10 NHANES, 2003-2006. 11 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2009. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 22. Nutrient Data Laboratory Home Page, http://www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata.   12  Albertson, AM, Anderson GH, Crockett SJ & Goebel MT. Ready-to-eat cereal consumption: Its relationship with BMI and nutrient intake of children aged 4 to 12 years. J Am Diet Assoc. 2003; 103(12): 1613-1619.