More than 350 Illinois schools will be required to serve breakfast because of a new law signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich Feb. 15.

The Hunger Relief Act states schools with 40 percent of their student population eligible for free or reduced lunch are now required to offer breakfast as well, said Naomi Greene, spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of Education.

Greene said this affects about 358 Illinois schools that fit into the criteria.

Because the DeKalb district does not fit into the criteria of the law, it will not be required to add breakfast to the menu.

It is something the school district has discussed, said MeriAnn Besonen, assistant superintendent for business and finance in the district.

“The biggest concern for our district would be the cost issue,” Besonen said. “There are certain ramifications. If you offer food to one school, you have to offer it to the entire district and to all students.”

Right now it is not a realistic possibility in DeKalb, Besonen said. Offering a breakfast would require moving bus times up and finding supervision and cafeteria workers to prepare the food.

“It would be good for students, but there are so many factors to consider that go with it,” Besonen said.

She said offering a cold breakfast to students is more realistic but still something the district could not afford.

Breakfast serves an important role in proper nutrition for students and the general population.

Studies have shown people who do not eat breakfast often do not meet nutritional requirements as often as those that do eat breakfast, said Beverly Henry, an NIU associate professor of nutritional sciences.

“A lot of people say they’re not hungry when they get up. Once you miss that meal though, your food choices change,” Henry said. “For example, maybe they’ll get a bigger hamburger for lunch, but they won’t end up getting the whole-grain that would come from their cereal at breakfast.”

She also said it is common to see better performance in school among students who eat breakfast regularly.

In addition to the breakfast requirement, Blagojevich is promoting a bill banning the sale of junk food and soda from school vending machines.

Besonen said elementary and middle schools in the district do not sell soda and rarely sell junk food. The high school, however, is looking at ways to reduce the amount of unhealthy foods being sold.

“It would hurt our sales to get rid of all the junk food and soda [in the high school], but it would be good for the students in the long run if we did,” she said.