December 8, 2000

A new study by researchers at the MGH shows a direct correlation between school breakfast and academic achievement in Boston public schools. The study results were announced at a press conference at the MGH Nov. 29. The event also provided an opportunity for a bipartisan group of state leaders and members of Project Bread, a nonprofit organization dedicated to issues of hunger, to call for a statewide effort to expand school breakfast programs and take other steps to end child hunger in Massachusetts.

The MGH study tracked students in 16 Boston schools that have recently launched aggressive campaigns to expand their school breakfast programs. Results show that increased school breakfast participation improves nutrition, school attendance, emotional functioning and math grades.

"The results are in, and school breakfast is a clear winner," said Ronald Kleinman, MD, associate chief of Pediatrics at the MassGeneral Hospital for Children. "As Boston students increased their participation in school breakfast programs, those same students showed higher math grades, improved attendance and better behavior. The link between good nutrition and academic performance could not be clearer."

Recommendations from the study, which was led by Kleinman and Michael Murphy, EdD, of Child Psychiatry, were included in a detailed report about effective strategies for ending child hunger. The bipartisan group supporting the report included Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift, Senator Edward Kennedy, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Citizens Energy Corporation CEO Joseph Kennedy and Suffolk County District Attorney Ralph Martin II.

Above: from left, Ronald Kleinman, MD, Beth and Joseph Kennedy, Mike Carson, board chair for Project Bread, Ellen Parker, executive director for Project Bread, Lt. Gov. Jane Swift, Alan Ezekowitz, MBChB, DPhil, and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino at press conference. Below: Media at for the press conference.