More kids need school breakfast

We all know that hungry child can’t learn.

But many Hawaiʻi families can’t afford to give a healthy breakfast to their children every morning. Hawaiʻi has the 11th-highest poverty rate among the states, at 15 percent, according to the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, which takes into account the fact that we have the highest cost of living in the nation here.

Even families who can afford healthy food can have such busy morning schedules that they don’t have the time to sit down together for a good breakfast. Yet research shows that students who get a nutritious breakfast are better able to study and learn than students who skip the meal or don’t get enough to eat.

The returns on investing in school breakfast are clear: better academic performance for our children, fewer behavioral problems for our teachers to handle, relief for struggling and busy families in the mornings, and millions more federal dollars coming to our state.

Ranking 50th in the nation. We can—and must—do better for our keiki, their families and our state’s future.