Why do some children in NZ go to school without breakfast in New Zealand ?

It was a simple question I asked myself: why do some children in NZ go to school without breakfast? As I am a father of two children I thought that this would be easy to answer, but I have come to realise there are so many different factors and reasons why some NZ children do not eat the most important meal of the day…....breakfast.

Since our project began 18 months ago, the Kids Can Cook Kitchen and Teens Can Cook Kitchen has visited over 250 schools nationwide and worked with over 40,000 children and teens. We have met some of New Zealand’s most outstanding teachers and principals, health advocates, parents, children, teenagers and students who have the most amazing school educational programmes and school gardens.

What we have found is some common concerns that are relevant to all demographics and all regions of NZ:

1> Some families do not have the money, knowledge or willpower to supply breakfast on a consistent basis which may be caused by not prioritising the most basic needs first, that of ensuring a child is in the best position to learn every day of the week. The fact is that breakfast is the cheapest meal to provide, at just 50 cents per person, and the most important is sometimes overlooked by some families. A common human trait is that the simplest things can be the hardest to do in the supposedly busy world that we live in.

This could be addressed by providing social service agencies or schools with access to a breakfast vouchers and knowledge scheme for healthy cereals that can be eaten in the home environment by families. This puts the focus onto ensuring that each day starts with doing the basic things well i.e. having breakfast. By eating at home it ensures the next generation of kids have the right skill sets and knowledge. While schools currently provide the short-term, safe, proactive and essential service of Breakfast clubs is it the best longer term solution?

2> Factors such as poverty, alcohol, tobacco and drugs can have an adverse effect on both the physical environment and economics of providing the most important meal of the day for children. Children love to learn and they are better at this when they are not distracted by simple things such as hunger or adult problems. The fact that there are a lot of social agencies in NZ that are able to help families before their children get to school begs the question……why are some families not asking for help if they cannot feed their own children breakfast?

This could be addressed by ensuring that there is easy access to budgeting, quit line and social help groups when asked or identified by either children or teachers. An Eat it Forward Programme where help is given and can be repaid by time in community gardens, church or food bank projects would provide a payback focus. Highlighting parental responsibilities of what a family is and how anybody can break past habits and turn these into future opportunities would be a key focus. Alcohol, tobacco and drugs are all recreational escapes from reality, whereas breakfast and feeding energy giving foods to a family are the bare bones of reality. Use and highlight champions, groups, organisations and mentors in the community who have risen above past personal issues to show a way to eat it forward.

3> The vast majority of children are eating breakfast consistently but only the minority are eating the right energy giving breakfasts. Fancy cereals, instant satisfaction foods and overpriced energy deficient manufactured foods are over-represented at the breakfast table of many NZ children. The “puffery” by food companies plays a major role in the weekly shop and the pester power of children adds up to the wrong types of foods being consumed.

Ensure that foods labels are effective, easy to read and that “puffery” is not a viable defence of common marketing practices. The transparency of what is in our food needs to speak for itself rather than the hidden ingredients and marketing ploys that are engaged to promote foods that have a low nutritional value but high profitability value. Engage and actively network with food producing companies to highlight the value of future communities’ health and wellbeing as a shared responsibility. Look at what messages we are saying by the advertising in our bus shelters, community facilities and shared spaces. What messages are we sending our communities? Is it balanced and meeting the needs of the community, or is it just puffery?

4> Schools are effectively sowing the seeds with Enviro and Sustainable School programmes, Life Educational programmes, Garden programmes and Health programmes, thus providing the right environment for every child in NZ to learn and participate in a more meaningful way. There are numerous champions who are outstanding in their fields of expertise and they should be allowed to nurture and grow their current work and the future work that needs to be done.

Ensure primary schools are provided with enough resources and tools to set high goals that are the very essence of future good learning practices. It is a partnership between themselves and what happens at home. It is not a one way system of learning but a shared responsibility for the whole community.

5> Children are more likely to eat breakfast if Mum and Dad sit down with them at the same time to share the first meal of the day. In some families Mums and Dads are at work first thing in the morning and breakfast is something that children have to organise themselves. Just because parents are not at home does not mean that is it not their responsibility to provide for their children. Nobody likes to eat alone and children are no exception.

Ensure that we understand the underlying issues around families who are unable to provide or do not have the skill set to provide. The kitchen table is the key to unlocking the best in our future learners. Education and promotion of good eating habits to all communities will go a long way to resolving future health problems. There is a responsibility to raising families and if the start of the day is to lead by example then the rest of the day is easier to maintain.

6> School garden programmes are leading the way in putting our children in touch with real food and the teachers and principals who run these programs deserve a bucketful of recognition for the often understated and underfunded roles they are playing in NZ society. It is not their core function but it is in their best interest for longer term learning environments where we naturally have some academic learners and there is a whole range or practical learners.

Ensure that there are resources and tools available to all educators to continue and expand the programmes that are currently running. Men’s Sheds, Rural Women’s Associations, Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and other service clubs have a wealth of experience and knowledge that can be tapped into. The implications of not supporting these grass roots teachers and programmes who are leading the way in sowing the seeds will lead to poor succession and uptake at a community level.

7> The marketing of convenience foods often drowns out the message that is being broadcast by parents, grandparents, teachers and health professionals, who cannot compete against multinational companies with million dollar budgets. The abundance of advertising that surrounds our schools and is associated with youth sporting teams far exceeds the best practice that most ethical companies would be put forward to their own employees.

Ensure that there is a balanced and fair representation in sensitive areas (schools, sports grounds) so that there is a conscious focus on what is best for that community rather than what is best for the bottom line of a commercial food producer. Highlight and shine the light on ethical and sustainable practices that are truly focused on providing fuel for our future. While we live in a free world to make our own decisions it is very hard to think about when you are being shouted at.

8> Some teens are less likely to eat breakfast due to extreme social pressure from their peers and the “time” factor. The fact that breakfast has never been easier to prepare or having such a worldly availability of foods does not register with some. To perform at your best means that you have to ensure that you are feeding your body the right foods on a consistent basis.

Provide the education tools and resources at a primary level so that our teenagers of the future are equipped with the correct information to make the right decisions at the right times of their lives. Primary schools are the incubators and if we sow the seeds of knowledge in younger educational groups then these seeds will germinate later in life. Use our national treasures (i.e. sporting heros) to highlight the essence of how anybody can achieve their goals if they feed the right energy to the right places.

9> There are very few children in New Zealand who are really hungry and starving. We are feeding our children the wrong foods at the wrong time and this is leading to a country of future adults with poor nutritional eating habits. This will ultimately lead to compounding health issues that we are fully aware of but fail to grasp the longer term ramifications of.

Continue to highlight and promote the ramifications of excess sugars, fats and lack of physical movement to ensure that it is a balanced message. There are a number of very good and efficient participation and sporting programmes that have a large impact on youth. Ensure that these programmes are given the tools and resources needed to make a difference in the community. Education is not something that is limited to school hours but it is something that can be done 24 hours of the day.

10> Educate, Educate, Educate. Give our youth and the communities the tools to make the right decisions at the right time and place. While schools are doing a great job there are many other groups and agencies that are educating our youth in the community. These include community gardens, Churches, local iwi and councils, sporting groups, government agencies and regional food systems.

Educate, Educate, Educate. New Zealand is a very different place than it used be, with 24 hour shopping and 24 hour eating. Our fast-food restaurants have bigger, taller and brighter signs, unhealthy foods are be sold as dietary supplements and we have now become used to a Americanised diet of supersize me. While a hardware store used to sell hardware they now sell everything from energy drinks to ice blocks to nails and hammers. The fact that our supermarkets, who are our biggest food promoters, now provide us with more energy drinks and alcohol than fresh vegetables and fruits at the entrance way highlights that the future health and wellbeing of New Zealand children is an issue that will get worse before it gets better. Education is the key.

Chris Fortune is the founder of the Kids Can Cook Kitchen and Teens Can Cook Kitchen and is not affiliated with any organisation or group. Chris Fortune is the immediate past Chairperson of Farmers Markets New Zealand and more information can be found at

www.kidscancookkitchen.org.nz www.teenscancookkitchen.org.nz www.chrisfortune.co.nz

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