Peer-Driven Project Encourages Teens to Eat School Breakfast

A project to help teens encourage their peers to eat breakfast at school will kick off at the end of the month in three Iowa schools.  Students at Waukee Senior High in Waukee, Pleasant Valley High in Bettendorf, and Thomas Jefferson High in Cedar Rapids will join in this effort spearheaded by researchers at the University of Iowa Public Policy Center and the Iowa Department of Education.

Studies have found that eating breakfast can have positive impacts on school performance, behavior, attention, strength, and weight management. Yet many teens routinely skip breakfast, citing reasons like lack of time on hectic school-day mornings. Iowa schools have one of the third-lowest rates in the nation for participation in free school breakfast programs, according to the Food Resource and Action Center in Washington, DC.

Over the next few months, University of Iowa research scientist Natoshia Askelson and her team will meet with students at the three participating schools to guide them in developing a social marketing campaign to promote school breakfast among their peers. Students will engage in the research process to determine how best to reach their peers and communicate the message effectively, collecting feedback at their schools from surveys, focus groups, and social media.

The students come from a variety of backgrounds, and the project will include a marketing class, a health class, and volunteer activities within their communities. The three schools were selected by the Iowa Department of Education based on their commitment to improving school breakfast participation. Beginning in the fall, the campaign will expand to include schools across the entire state of Iowa.

"This is a great opportunity for kids to get real hands-on experience in public health and public policy,” says Askelson. “They will research the policies related to school breakfast in order to understand how it is funded and to understand the regulations. They will explore why their peers do not eat breakfast at school and identify what would motivate them. Using this information they will create messages and design a campaign.”

“It’s so exciting to be working directly with the students on this issue,” adds Elizabeth Golembiewski, a UI graduate student working on the project. “This participatory approach is a really interesting way to give students ownership in the process of developing a campaign and promoting healthy eating.”