About KickStart Breakfast
Fonterra and Sanitarium partnered in February 2009 to provide a free school breakfast of Anchor milk and Weet-Bix to decile* one to four schools.
More than 35,000 nutritious breakfasts are served each week in over 520 schools that run their own KickStart Breakfast club. Since the launch in February 2009 we have provided over 3 million bowls of breakfast to our KickStart Breakfast clubs nationwide, giving them a kick start to their day.
Fonterra and Sanitarium only provide the product. It's up to the school’s community to provide provisions including bowl’s, spoons, a central location, food storage facilities and of course the people to run the breakfast club. The ‘community partnership’ model is an effective one, as by focusing on the critical aspect of food rather than logistics, KickStart is able to provide a breakfast offering to more schools.
KickStart Breakfast only runs 1-2 days per week at school with the intention of encouraging good breakfast patterns that can be replicated in the home. Through learning by doing children can start to appreciate how good they feel and pass this message on hopefully improving their families' overall health.
Schools say KickStart Breakfast clubs are not only helping children nutritionally but it also making a positive impact on learning behaviour.
- Literacy and numeracy levels are improving
- Children are happier, have more energy and are able to concentrate longer
- Children are no longer eating junk food at morning tea
- The club provides a great environment for children to socialise together
- The older children are taking on responsibility and looking after the younger ones**Online survey with participating schools, December 10 (n=295)
* Every state school in New Zealand is given a decile from 1-10 by the Ministry of Education. 1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest. Decile 1 – 4 schools draw students from low socioeconomic areas.
