Which fourth-grade children participate in school breakfast and do their parents know it?

Objective: To explore fourth-graders' school breakfast participation by gender and race (black, white) and examine the extent to which parents' responses to 'Does this child usually eat school breakfast?' reflected their children's participation. Design: Parents answered 'yes' or 'no' to the questions printed on consent forms. Observers documented which children participated in school breakfast on 26 to 51 randomly selected days per school during 24 weeks in the 1999-2000 school year. Subjects: 357 children recruited from all 22 fourth-grade classes from 6 schools in 1 public school district. Variables Measured: Participation rate, participation rate grouping [usually participated ([greater than or equal to] 50% of days observed), did not usually participate (< 50% of days observed)]. Statistical Analyses Performed: Komolgorov-Smirnov tests, McNemar's test. Results: Median participation rate was 37.5% overall. Distribution of participation rates differed significantly by race (K-S test, P < .001) but not gender. There was a significant difference in the percentage of parents who said 'yes' or 'no' compared to children's usual participation grouping (McNemar test, P < .001). Of parents who said 'yes,' 66% of children usually participated; of parents who said 'no,' 92% of children did not usually participate. Implications: Children, not parents, must be the source for learning about what children eat at school. Key Words: children, parents, School Breakfast Program participation (J Nutr Educ Behav. 2002;34:159-165)