Although school breakfast is universally considered to be vital for health and learning, there is a wide disparity in the number of students who get served these meals in Philadelphia schools.

At Moffet Elementary School in Kensington, for example, 92 percent of the students eat breakfast, the highest percentage in Philadelphia. But at Pastorius Elementary School in Germantown, just 12 percent of students eat breakfast, the lowest number in the city.

The findings are part of an analysis released to The Inquirer last week by Public Citizens for Children and Youth, a Philadelphia children’s advocacy group.

Principals are generally considered to be the main factor in the success or failure of breakfast service, especially in elementary school. If the principal makes the effort, experts say, more kids eat.

“These are extraordinary differences in the numbers of kids eating breakfast,” said Jonathan Stein, a lawyer with Community Legal Services, long involved in school-meal issues. “It’s because of the principals.”

Carey Morgan, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, agreed.

“It goes directly to the priorities of the person running the school,” she said.

Kathy Fisher, director of family economic security at Public Citizens, urged principals at underperforming schools to study the more successful schools.

“To just say, ‘Oh, well, the kids don’t want to participate,’ is not an acceptable answer to us,” Fisher said.

None of the principals from schools with low breakfast participation – including Pastorius – returned phone calls.

“School breakfast has become a priority” for School Superintendent William R. Hite Jr., said Wayne Grasela, senior vice president of food services for the school district. “There’s a lot of support. We think we’ll see growth in the next year.”

Any Philadelphia public school student who wants breakfast can have it, regardless of income.

As for lunch, because so many students are low-income, nearly four of five qualify for free or reduced-price meals in the city.

Overall, about 52 percent of elementary-school students eat breakfast, according to Public Citizens. It’s 42 percent for middle-school students and 28 percent for high schoolers.

Generally, older students skip school breakfast, studies have found, many times because they normally don’t eat breakfast anyway or because they get food elsewhere.

Philadelphia Inquirer – January 21, 2013 – اقرأ المقال على الإنترنت