Emma Brown from The Washington Post reports that growing number of children are eating free breakfasts at school, but the push to provide morning meals for all children in low-income communities has long been accompanied by a concern that it might mean more kids end up eating a double breakfast, one at home and one at school, increasing their risk of obesity.A new study suggests that it is not children who indulge twice, but those who skip breakfast altogether, who are more likely to be overweight.In other words, two breakfasts appear to be better than none, said Marlene Schwartz, of the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.
“Our study does add to the argument that it’s really important to make sure that as many kids as possible are getting a healthy breakfast,” said Schwartz, one of a team of researchers who conducted the study, which appears in the journal Pediatric Obesity. “Especially in low-income communities, having universal access to healthy breakfasts is helpful.”
Advocates (including the current residents of the White House) see free meals at school — including lunch, and more recently breakfast and supper — as a critical way to fight hunger among American children who live in poverty.
Nearly four million U.S. households are unable to provide enough nutritious food for their kids, according to 2012 federal data.












