Looking through the meal offerings at the school my son will start attending next week, I was shocked that there is no breakfast offered at the school. Knowing the importance of breakfast for helping maintain a healthy weight, the positive benefits of breakfast on school performance and the high level of nutrients provided by a healthy breakfast, I’m definitely going to make sure he eats before he gets on the bus. Here’s hoping his classmates’ parents do the same! School Breakfast Program The sister program to the National School Lunch Program is the School Breakfast Program (SBP). In fiscal  2010, 88,000 schools fed breakfast to 11.6 million students each day. Of those students, 9.7 million received free or reduced-price breakfast, meaning that their families make less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level (equal to an average household income of $40,793 for a family of four). Regulations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture require that a reimbursable school breakfast provide fruit, grains and fluid milk. A range of calories per meal and limits on saturated fat, trans fat and sodium are also required. While many changes to the meal patterns and nutrient limits for SBP were set in the final rule released by USDA in January, many of the changes to breakfast are not mandatory until the 2013-2014 or 2014-2015 school years. Dairy in the School Breakfast Program Breakfasts are required to offer fluid milk and, starting in school year 2013-2014, may include a meat or meat alternate serving, such as cheese or yogurt. Milk must be offered with a reimbursable school breakfast. Beginning this school year (2012-2013), the milk can either be fat-free white, fat-free flavored or low-fat white milk, the same options allowed for lunch. Yogurt is a perfect fit for school breakfast. Since four ounces of yogurt can qualify as one ounce of meat alternate in the SBP and requires no preparation, a four-ounce or six-ounce cup of yogurt can easily be the centerpiece of breakfast. Cheese can also be a great option for breakfast – either as part of a breakfast burrito or as a chunk or piece of cheese along with cereal, fruit and milk. Yogurt and cheese currently can be included as meat alternates in school breakfast. A separate, but not mandatory, category for meat and meat alternates in breakfast will begin in school year 2013-2014. MilkPEP’s 'The Breakfast Project' In addition to breakfast in school, a morning meal is an important part of everyone’s healthy diet, whether at school, home or on the go. The Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) has been promoting milk as a great choice in the morning with The Breakfast Project. While MilkPEP’s work focuses on fluid milk, you can use a similar idea to promote your dairy products as healthy, convenient breakfast options.