Project breakFAST

Fueling Academics and Strengthening Teens

The goals of this intervention study are to implement best practice strategies to expand and promote the SBP and test the impact upon 1) student participation rates, based on reimbursable meals served, 2) overall student caloric intake and diet quality and 3) body mass index and percent body fat in a random sample of 800 high school students in 16 rural Minnesota school districts. Best practice strategies drawn from federal and industry sources to expand SBP participation include improving access through school-wide policy and practice implementation (i.e., grab-n-go menu, service in the atrium) and promote participation by addressing normative and attitudinal beliefs through a school-wide SBP marketing campaign (i.e., foods taste good, school breakfast is for all students) and providing positive interactions that encourage eating school breakfast with social support from peers and school personnel (i.e., eating in the hallway, classroom).

Funding

National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

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Publications

  • Shanafelt A et al. A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Updating and Expanding School Breakfast Program Offerings in High School. In Press J Sch Health
  • Hearst M et al. Altering the school breakfast environment reduces reported barriers to breakfast consumption at school. In Press J Sch Health
  • Caspi C, Wang Q, Shanafelt A, Larson N, Wei S, Hearst MO, Nanney MS. School Breakfast Program Participation and Rural Adolescents' Purchasing Behaviors in Food Stores and Restaurants. J Sch Health. 2017 Oct;87(10):723-731. PMC5679072
  • Larson N, Wang Q, Grannon K, Wei S, Nanney MS, Caspi C. A low-cost, grab-and-go breakfast intervention for rural high school students: changes in School Breakfast Program participation among at-risk students in Minnesota. J Nutr Educ Behav 2018 Feb:50(2):125-132. PMCID: In process, NIHMSID: 898546
  • Mumm J, Hearst MO, Shanafelt A, Wang Q, Leduc R, Nanney MS. Increasing Social Support for Breakfast: Project BreakFAST. Health Promot Pract. 2017 Jun 1:1524839917711123. PMCID IN PROCESS NIHMSID: 939952
  • Hearst MO, Harnack LJ, Wang Q, Nanney MS. Dietary Quality of Diverse Rural Adolescents Using the Healthy Eating Index -2010. Health Behav Policy Rev. 2016 Nov; 3(6): 519-527. PMCID PMC5812727
  • Hearst MO, Shanafelt A, Wang Q, Leduc R, Nanney MS. Barriers, Benefits, and Behaviors Related to Breakfast Consumption Among Rural Adolescents. J Sch Health. 2016 Mar;86(3):187-94.  PMC4825869
  • Shanafelt A, Hearst MO, Wang Q, Nanney MS. Food Insecurity and Rural Adolescent Personal Health, Home, and Academic Environments. J Sch Health. 2016 Jun;86(6):472-80. PMC4852387
  • Larson N, Wang Q, Berge JM, Shanafelt A, Nanney MS. Eating breakfast together as a family: mealtime experiences and associations with dietary intake among adolescents in rural Minnesota, USA. Public Health Nutr. 2016 Jun;19(9):1565-74. PMC5714511
  • Nanney MS, Shanafelt A, Wang Q, Leduc R, Dodds E, Hearst M, Kubik MY, Grannon K, Harnack L. Project BreakFAST: Rationale, design, and recruitment and enrollment methods of a randomized controlled trial to evaluate an intervention to improve School Breakfast Program participation in rural high schools. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2016 Aug 15;3:12-22. PMC4850496

Project BreakFAST Reports

Presentations

Resources

Project breakFAST Toolkit

Data Collection

Student Recruitment

Example Promotional Videos

Research Studies

Principal Investigator

Marilyn "Susie" Nanney, PhD, MPH, RD 

Jerica Berge PhD, MPH (Interim PI from 9/1/16 to 8/31/17)

Project Manager

Kate Grannon, MPH, RD

Co-Investigators

Caitlin Caspi, ScD, Lisa Harnack, PhD; Mary Hearst, PhD; Martha Kubik, PhD, MSN, RNC; and Robert LeDuc, PhD

Collaborating Agencies

MN Department of Education; Community Blueprint; University of Minnesota Extension; Kathleen Milbrath, School Meals Specialist; Midwest Dairy Council and St. Catherine's University