The same goes for after school — milk can help fill nutritional gaps in a child's day, serves as a nutritious alternative to junk food and gives kids a boost before they dive into homework assignments or after school activities.

Breakfast and after school are two more opportunities for schools to cash in on milk's potential, as providing foodservice during those times can lead to greater overall meal program participation. Plus, more opportunities to buy milk can mean more profit for schools.

Key Facts

• Breakfast and after school programs are on the rise for two key reasons — they provide increased nutritional value to students and a significant profit opportunity for schools.
• The federally assisted School Breakfast Program is operated in 77,000 schools and serves 8 million children.
• Participation in the program has increased 60% since 1993, and there's still room for growth — for every 100 students eating a free/reduced cost lunch, 43 also participated in a breakfast program.
• Traditional cafeteria breakfast programs face declining participation, so schools are looking for alternatives such as in-classroom breakfast programs (popular with younger students); grab-and-go pre-packaged breakfasts (popular with older students); breakfast on the bus; or breakfast after first period.
• In case studies, milk sales at breakfast increase with the addition of resealable plastic bottles and more flavor choices; plastic bottles make students feel they're getting more for their money.
• Breakfast programs increase total reimbursable school meal participation and boost overall milk consumption.
• Classroom-based breakfast programs encourage students to eat without having to arrive at school early; require less effort on the part of foodservice personnel; and "sell themselves," since kids are inclined to eat when presented with food.

After School

• 34% of K-8 buildings have after school programs; 19% (6.5 million) K-8 students are enrolled in a community- or school-based after school program.
• Most students like an after school snack and wish their program offered more choices.
• Demand for after school programs is increasing — communities support organized activities for kids and teens that provide learning opportunities.
• After school programs fill childcare gaps, keep kids safe and improve student performance on proficiency and standardized tests.
• Federally funded programs require after school snacks contain two of four components; milk; fruit and vegetables (including juice); grains; and protein.
• 87% of after school snack program participants report having cold storage available

Easy tips to get students to drink more milk