Breakfast and school lunch as pathways for enhancing educational outcomes and promoting public health

Abstract

Health and education are closely linked. Healthy students are suggested to be better learners (3). Healthy behaviors, including healthy diets, physical activity, and sufficient sleep, might provide optimal conditions for adolescents’ brain development and learning (4). The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the role of having breakfast (at home) and providing free school lunches in students’ educational outcomes. The thesis also sought to assess the contributions of these meals to public health promotion. Its focus is adolescents (for the school setting, the term “students” is used). Adolescence is a period in life in which youth go through important developmental phases in their transition toward young adulthood. Health promotion efforts can make considerable contributions to their health, wellbeing, and education outcomes, that later on also might benefit their adult health and employment outcomes (3, 5-8). The Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing therefore brought attention to the importance of health investments in adolescents, bringing a triple dividend of benefits for them now, in adulthood, and for their future children (6).