BREAKFAST clubs have been widely praised for their role in improving children’s behaviour and achievements in school.
Teachers have long concluded that children who turn up for lessons having missed out on their first meal of the day can lack concentration, often behave less well and ultimately find it hard to absorb what they are being taught.
Over the last decade, breakfast clubs have become a normal part of school and family life.
Research suggests that eating breakfast improves children’s problem solving abilities, their memory, concentration levels, visual perception and creative thinking.
It is surely a persuasive argument that a child who has been properly fed is likely to be more settled, motivated and keen to work.
For some families that is possible largely due to breakfast clubs which ensure that children eat a healthy breakfast and are eased into the discipline of a school day.
So it is concerning that some clubs are now struggling to keep going because of budgetary constraints.
Breakfast clubs can be key in giving children a healthy, supportive start particularly in families where time and sometimes money is tight.
Getting children’s school days off to a good start is, after all, a crucial part of shaping their futures.
