Taye Diggs Rallies Families To Raise A Spoon To Fight Childhood Hunger

BATTLE CREEK, Mich., Feb. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of National Breakfast Week, Kellogg's® is making a difference by sharing breakfast with children in need. Moms and dads know that breakfast is essential to giving kids the start they need to help unlock their potential. But not every child gets this important start to their day. In fact, nearly one in five children across the U.S. goes without breakfast every day. ¹ That's why Kellogg's, and their in-school breakfast partner Action For Healthy Kids®, have partnered with Taye Diggs for the third annual Share Breakfast ™ program. Together, they are making it easy for families to help share one ² million breakfasts with kids who might otherwise go without.

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"The Kellogg's Share Breakfast program is very personal and important to me. My mom was a teacher, and taught me at an early age that eating a good breakfast was key to succeeding in school," said Diggs. "Even now, from being on set to playing with my son, eating breakfast gives me the energy I need to start the day right, and keep going."

The Power of Breakfast in ActionResearch shows that breakfast can help kick-start a child's metabolism, energy and focus for learning ³ and can help set them up for a more successful day. ^4,5 Preliminary studies reveal that students participating in school breakfast programs generally had fewer school absences and tardiness than children who did not participate. ⁶ Together, cereal plus one cup of milk is a leading source of ten nutrients important to growing bodies, and provides all four of the nutrients Americans are missing most ⁷ – calcium, potassium, vitamin D and fiber.** ⁸

"So many children rely on the national School Breakfast Program to get breakfast every day. Without it, many at-risk children would not get breakfast at all," said Action for Healthy Kids CEO Rob Bisceglie. "The Kellogg's Share Breakfast program helps raise awareness while also allowing more children to have access."

The power of breakfast was seen in the Great Starts videos at two schools that received grants from Action for Healthy Kids made possible by the Kellogg's Share Breakfast program. The inspiring stories from Cypress Elementary in Kissimmee, Fla. and Hodge Elementary in Denton, Texas can become a reality anywhere.

"At Kellogg, we strongly believe in the power of breakfast. Through Kellogg's Share Breakfast, we can help make a difference by giving children the start they need to unlock their potential," said Doug VanDeVelde, Kellogg senior vice president of marketing, ready-to-eat cereal. "For this year's program, we are thrilled to partner with Taye Diggs and hope that families across the country will be inspired to help us reach our goal of sharing one million breakfasts with children in need."

How to Join the Share Breakfast MovementIt is simple to  join the movement. For every view, share, tweet and comment of the PSA and Great Starts videos, Kellogg's and Action for Healthy Kids will share breakfast with children in need. 

Families across the country can share a breakfast with a child in need in a number of ways:

1. Watching and sharing the Cypress Elementary and Hodge Elementary Great Starts videos on ShareBreakfast.com
2. Sharing the public service announcement with friends
3. Liking or commenting on the Share Breakfast Facebook page
4. Posting on Twitter with the #ShareBreakfast
5. Sharing and repining on Pinterest
6. Viewing the Got Milk? Ad with Taye Diggs and his son Walker on ShareBreakfast.com
7. Visiting spoon installation events in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. to "raise a spoon" and give a breakfast to a child in need  

Visit ShareBreakfast.com to learn about all the ways families can get involved for Share Breakfast 2013.

Kellogg Company Provides Breakfasts for Better DaysAs a leading food company, one of the most positive impacts Kellogg Company can have on society is through its foods. Because one in eight people around the world face food insecurity, Kellogg is committed to providing one-half billion servings of breakfast to children and families who need it most, through its new Breakfasts for Better Days™ initiative. In total, the company will donate 1 billion servings of cereal and snacks in its support of global hunger relief by the end of 2016 ⁹.

About Kellogg Company At Kellogg Company (NYSE: K), we are driven to enrich and delight the world through foods and brands that matter. With 2012 sales of $14.2 billion, Kellogg is the world's leading cereal company; second largest producer of cookies, crackers and savory snacks; and a leading North American frozen foods company.  Every day, our well-loved brands nourish families so they can flourish and thrive. These brands include Kellogg's®, Keebler®, Special K®, Pringles®, Frosted Flakes®, Pop-Tarts®, Corn Flakes®, Rice Krispies®, Kashi®, Cheez-It®, Eggo®, Coco Pops®, Mini-Wheats®, and many more. To learn more about our responsible business leadership, foods that delight and how we strive to make a difference in our communities around the world, visit www.kelloggcompany.com.

About Action for Healthy Kids®Action for Healthy Kids® (AFHK) fights childhood obesity, undernourishment and physical inactivity by helping schools become healthier places so kids can live healthier lives. AFHK partners with a legion of dedicated volunteers - teachers, students, moms, dads, school wellness experts and more - from within the ranks of their 34,000+ constituency to create healthful school changes. After all, everyone has a part to play in ending the nation's childhood obesity epidemic. AFHK's programs, tools and resources make it possible so that many people can.

AFHK's grassroots efforts are supported by a collaboration of more than 70 organizations, corporations and government agencies. Working together, they're giving kids the keys to health and academic success by meeting them where they are - in the classroom, in the cafeteria and on the playground - with fun physical activity and nutrition lessons and changes that make it possible for them to eat nutritiously and play every day. More information is available at www.ActionforHealthyKids.org, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Action-for-Healthy-Kids/267076500068?ref=mf and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Act4HlthyKids.

¹ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2012. Breakfast: Percentages of Selected Nutrients Contributed by Foods Eaten at Breakfast, by Gender and Age, What We Eat in America, NHANES 2009-2010. Available: www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/fsrg ² Each time you share, Kellogg will donate the monetary equivalent of a school breakfast shared. Kellogg will donate up to $250,000 – the equivalent of 1.25 million school breakfasts shared. Program ends 4/15/2013. ³ Kleinman RE, Hall S, Green H, Korzec-Ramirez D, Patton K, Pagano ME, Murphy JM. Diet, breakfast, and academic performance in children. Ann Nutr Metab. 2002;46 Suppl 1:24-30. ⁴ Kosti RI, Panagiotakos DB, Zampelas A, Mihas C, Alevizos A, Leonard C, Tountas Y, Mariolis A. The association between consumption of breakfast cereals and BMI in schoolchildren aged 12-17 years: the VYRONAS study. Public Health Nutr. 2008 Oct;11(10):1015-21. ⁵ Cooper SB, Bandelow S, Nevill ME. Breakfast consumption and cognitive function in adolescent schoolchildren. Physiol Behav. 2011 Jul 6;103(5):431-9. ⁶ Kleinman RE, Hall S, Green H, Korzec-Ramirez D, Patton K, Pagano ME, Murphy JM. Diet, breakfast, and academic performance in children. Ann Nutr Metab. 2002;46 Suppl 1:24-30. ⁷ NHANES, 2003-2006. **When eating a cereal that contains fiber ⁸ U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), 2010. 7th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, December 2010. ⁹ The goal of one billion servings is based on an approximate serving size of one ounce.

SOURCE Kellogg Company

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