National School Lunch Program (NSLP)

During the school year, 31 million students participate each school day in the NSLP in approximately 100,000 schools. Every school day, 17.5 million students receive a free or reduced-price school lunch. More than 2 million children have been added to the National School Lunch Program since 2001.

• Children who participate in the National School Lunch Program eat twice as many servings of vegetables at lunch as non-participants.

• The NSLP meal pattern requirements are currently being updated to reflect the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs)

School Breakfast Program (SBP)

Nearly 10 million children in 82,000 schools receive a school breakfast every school day. In fiscal year 2006, 7.7 million students received a free or reduced-price breakfast. Since 2001, more than 2 million children have been added to the school breakfast program. The School Breakfast Program operates much like the NSLP.

• Research shows that eating breakfast helps children grow up healthy and strong,and do better in school; helps children concentrate better in class and go to the school nurse less frequently; and children who eat breakfast eat more fruit than children who don't.

• The SBP meal patterns are currently being updated to reflect the 2005 DGAs