MomCentral is participating in a campaign for Breakfast BREAKS, a packaged breakfast product that was developed as a way to get the millions of children who qualify for free or reduced-price breakfasts to get something to eat. The problem was, schools didn’t always have the additional refrigerator space needed to keep breakfast foods cold. Breakfast BREAKS consist of a single-serve bowl of cereal-either Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Honey Nut Cheerios, or Lucky Charms, a “nutritious snack”, and a box of Minute Maid 100% juice.

We received two of the kits and my son ate them both.Both of our kits contained Fruit & Grain bars as opposed to the raisins shown in the image. He said he didn’t mind that the juice wasn’t cold, and he added milk to the cereal. I suppose for schools with absolutely no extra refrigeration, the cereal could be eaten dry, or milk could be purchased just for breakfast. It breaks my heart to think of kids who won’t get breakfast unless their school provides it-why do we even have that kind of poverty in this country? But that’s another post altogether.

To promote Breakfast BREAKS, creator East Side Entrees has enlisted the support of teen music stars the Jonas Brothers and former Weight Watchers Spokesperson Duchess Sarah Ferguson. From the Press Release:

(Ferguson will be donating) a portion of the proceeds from product sales will be donated to the Sarah Ferguson Foundation, which supports education, health and anti-hunger projects worldwide. Reflecting her expanding commitment to health advocacy, the Duchess recently established the Solutions from the Heart seal to recognize innovative products and resources that promote a healthy lifestyle. In January, Breakfast BREAKS was awarded the seal.

The Jonas Brothers and the Duchess will be involved in a range of activities that will reach children, mothers and foodservice directors. Each activity will communicate the importance of eating a nutritious breakfast and demonstrate why Breakfast BREAKS is a convenient and healthy breakfast solution.

In the first quarter of 2008 the Jonas Brothers will make a major announcement about a national online contest with Breakfast BREAKS. ESE Foods will highlight the product through a television commercial featuring the entire Jonas family, which will air on ABC Kids Block, Discovery Kids and E! Entertainment. Also a print and online advertising campaign featuring the Jonas Brothers will appear in Nick, Family Fun and Working Mother magazines and on the Family Fun and various Disney websites.

Drawing on her own experience as the mother of two daughters, the Duchess conceived her own “Ten Precious Minutes” campaign for ESE Foods, which encourages parents to reclaim breakfast as quality time better used for nurturing children in mind, body and soul. A mirror campaign directed at educators and school foodservice professionals includes a three-part series of print advertorials for influential trade publications written by the Duchess. She will also host an online chat for school foodservice directors about the positive trends in federally funded School Breakfast Programs, and in early March the Duchess will kick off a media campaign during National School Breakfast Week to highlight the success of School Breakfast Programs and to encourage public action on behalf of the millions of American children who qualify for free breakfast but do not currently receive it.

Because you can purchase single-serve bowls of cereal, Fruit & Grain bars, and boxes of juice at the grocery store, I’m not sure I see the benefit to buying them together in one box, although at around $2.49, it’s not expensive. If your kids like it because the box has the Jonas Brothers on it, and these are foods you would normally buy anyway, then go for it. Be aware though, that each Breakfast BREAKS kit has around 44-45 grams of sugar, which is extremely high, although not as high as a donut and a chocolate milk or something similar you might pick up in a convenience store as you are driving your kids to school (not that I’ve, um, ever done that, of course, um…).

It’s all about balance. If this is the only way your kids are going to eat anything in the morning, or if you know a daycare provider or school that is having trouble organizing a breakfast program, this could be an option for them. You can’t drive a car all day with no gas in it, and a child can’t go to school all morning on an empty stomach. Breakfast BREAKS just might help with that.