17 April 2014A nutritional problem in New Zealand society today is that young people are making poor nutritional choices at breakfast. There are many reasons why this happens, but one of the main reasons is that some families cannot afford to feed their children a nutritious and healthy breakfast. In recent years there has been discussion about making breakfast available in schools to address this problem. Breakfast in Schools is a program created to provide hungry children who go to school with a healthy, nutritious breakfast. I believe that Breakfast in Schools is a good concept but it needs to be developed. There are valid reasons why some parents can't afford to feed their children nutritional breakfasts. Food insecurity is a growing concern within families “especially as incomes decline and food prices continue to rise inexorably,” as stated by CPAG (Child Poverty Action Group). As incomes decline, pressure is put on families to cover extra bills such as school fees, rent/mortgage costs and electricity bills, as well as trying to feed their families. For this reason, CPAG found that “in 2005, food banks recorded the largest increase in the number of people seeking help from working families.” For those who genuinely cannot afford to provide their children with nutritional breakfasts, Breakfast in Schools is the perfect solution to prevent their children from going to school hungry, negatively impacting their grades. “There is now a substantial body of research demonstrating that breakfast consumption contributes to students' academic and school attendance” (Rampersaud 2005). However, there may be some families who would abuse this concept. They could not give breakfast to their children knowing that there is nourishment...... their attendance, nutritional status, academic performance and behavior". This helps the child to engage in their learning, making teaching easier. It also facilitates the learning process of other children as the teacher does not focus on a student's behavior and lack of effort. Children going to school without breakfast represents a major nutritional problem in today's society and must be addressed. Breakfast in Schools is the perfect solution to this problem. Children are the primary stakeholders and innocent victims of this situation and their needs must be put first. With a program like Breakfast at School, all stakeholders will benefit; the children themselves, fellow students, teachers, the wider community and society as a whole.