Breakfast is a bit like Marmite – some of us love it and some of us don’t. Follow along to trace the origins of breakfast (or Ientaculum as it was called in Roman times) and explore its importance for health and school outcomes, as well as the Labour government’s commitment to free breakfast provision for all primary-school children.
Breaking the Fast: A Brief History
Convenience has been a key characteristic of breakfast since Roman times. Bread (and sometimes cheese, fruit, honey and wine) was typically consumed on the go and most often by the working class (1)(2). For these individuals, breakfast fuelled a long day of labour, particularly when working far from home. By the 16th century, there was greater acknowledgement of the importance of breakfast for everyone, for good overall health. Eventually, in the late 19th century, Dr John Harvey Kellogg developed breakfast cereal (2). Cornflakes were first sold commercially in the early 20th century, for 10 cents a box (3).
Breakfast, Health and Education
Consuming breakfast is associated with eating more healthily throughout the day, including greater nutrient and fibre intake (2,4,5). As such, chronic breakfast skipping may affect development and growth, as young people risk missing out on key nutrients. Children from low-income households are particularly at risk, as their overall diet is likely to lack these key elements already (6). Other negative health outcomes associated with skipping breakfast include weight gain and obesity, as well as poorer mental health.
Breakfast is important for education and schooling, too. Research has found that eating breakfast is associated with better cognition and attainment (8,9), a belief which parents and teachers widely hold too (10). School breakfast clubs (particularly free provisions) also improve attendance (11), which in turn may benefit school outcomes too (10). Recent research has found that free universal breakfast provisions may be particularly effective in secondary schools (12). This is an interesting finding, as breakfast skipping tends to increase with age. Secondary-aged children are more than three times as likely to skip breakfast than primary-age, with girls more likely than boys to skip breakfast (7). To make matters worse, up to one third of breakfast skippers eat nothing until lunchtime (7).
The Labour Government’s Approach
In April 2025, the Department for Education launched a new breakfast club scheme across 750 primary schools in England (13). The free breakfast clubs last 30 minutes each morning before school, providing children with a nutritious meal, adhering to School Food Standards. The initiative is universal, meaning all children attending the school are eligible, and families can take advantage of this as free childcare.
Already concern has been raised by The Association of School and College Leaders and the National Association of Head Teachers about insufficient funding, which may place further pressure on school budgets (14). Schools receive approximately 60p per pupil per day, for food and staffing costs (15).
The 750 schools involved are so-called ‘early adopters’, involved in a pilot scheme for the programme. If successful, the DfE have proposed that universal free breakfast clubs will be made available in all English primary schools (13), as set out in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill 2024, which is currently passing through parliament (16).
The Take-Home Message
Whatever your personal views on marmite (and breakfast more generally), the science suggests that it is beneficial for overall health and school-related metrics like cognition and attendance. The shift towards universal free breakfast club provision marks an important development in protecting the health and wellbeing outcomes of primary school children in England. This is particularly important for children from low-income or at-risk backgrounds, who are at much greater risk of missing breakfast (6).
This blog post is part of a series exploring the domains of the Evolve Development Tracker (EDT), written by Bella Rubens. Bella is a PhD Candidate at University College London. She is co-funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Evolve.
Read about some of the other domains: Emotional Wellbeing | Sleep |
References
1. Culture: Meals in Ancient Rome | EmpireRome.com [Internet]. [cited 2025 Jun 3]. Available from: https://www.empirerome.com/wordpress/?page_id=599
2. Gibney MJ, Barr SI, Bellisle F, Drewnowski A, Fagt S, Livingstone B, et al. Breakfast in Human Nutrition: The International Breakfast Research Initiative. Nutrients [Internet]. 2018 May 1 [cited 2025 Jun 3];10(5):559. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5986439/
3. First Versions: Kellogg’s [Internet]. [cited 2025 Jun 3]. Available from: https://www.firstversions.com/2016/01/kelloggs.html
4. The importance of breakfast for school-aged children [Internet]. [cited 2025 Jun 3]. Available from: https://www.nutrition.org.uk/news/the-importance-of-breakfast-for-school-children/
5. Nutrition Today [Internet]. [cited 2025 Jun 3]. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/nutritiontodayonline/abstract/2004/01000/the_importance_of_breakfast_consumption_to.9.aspx
6. Darmon N, Drewnowski A. Does social class predict diet quality?1. Am J Clin Nutr [Internet]. 2008 May 1 [cited 2025 Jun 3];87(5):1107–17. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916523235984
7. Hoyland A, McWilliams KA, Duff RJ, Walton JL. Breakfast consumption in UK schoolchildren and provision of school breakfast clubs. Nutr Bull [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2025 Jan 21];37(3):232–40. Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2012.01973.x
8. Peña-Jorquera H, Campos-Núñez V, Sadarangani KP, Ferrari G, Jorquera-Aguilera C, Cristi-Montero C. Breakfast: A Crucial Meal for Adolescents’ Cognitive Performance According to Their Nutritional Status. The Cogni-Action Project. Nutrients [Internet]. 2021 Apr 16 [cited 2025 Jun 3];13(4):1320. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8073030/
9. Medical Science Monitor | Effect of Eating Breakfast on Cognitive Development of Elementary and Middle School Students: An Empirical Study Using Large-Scale Provincial Survey Data – Article abstract #920459 [Internet]. [cited 2025 Jun 3]. Available from: https://medscimonit.com/abstract/index/idArt/920459
10. Hartline-Grafton H, Levin M. Breakfast and School-Related Outcomes in Children and Adolescents in the US: A Literature Review and its Implications for School Nutrition Policy. Curr Nutr Rep [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2025 Jun 3];11(4):653–64. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9403974/
11. Access to the School Breakfast Program Is Associated with Higher Attendance and Test Scores among Elementary School Students – ScienceDirect [Internet]. [cited 2025 Jun 3]. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622165429?via%3Dihub
12. The Effect of Serving “Breakfast After-the-Bell” Meals on School Absenteeism: Comparing Results From Regression Discontinuity Designs | Request PDF [Internet]. [cited 2025 Jun 3]. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349479401_The_Effect_of_Serving_Breakfast_After-the-Bell_Meals_on_School_Absenteeism_Comparing_Results_From_Regression_Discontinuity_Designs
13. Department for Education. Free breakfast club roll out: everything you need to know – The Education Hub [Internet]. 2025 [cited 2025 Jun 2]. Available from: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2025/04/free-breakfast-club-roll-out-everything-you-need-to-know/
14. BBC News [Internet]. 2025 [cited 2025 Jun 2]. First 750 schools named for free breakfast clubs in England. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg1p0zv541o
15. DfE appoints advisers to help schools deliver free breakfast clubs | Tes [Internet]. [cited 2025 Jun 2]. Available from: https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/primary/dfe-appoints-advisers-to-help-schools-deliver-free-breakfast-clubs
16. Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – Parliamentary Bills – UK Parliament [Internet]. [cited 2025 Jun 2]. Available from: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3909
