FREE Giveaway: I

We’re happy to announce that we’ve teamed up with General Mills to giveaway 4 FREE iPod Touch “I <3 BKFST” gift packs as a part of their wonderful I <3 BKFST campaign that will raise awareness that kids and teens need to eat breakfast each day, especially in the African American community. (Check out our interview with Keke Palmer announcing the campaign.) We’ll be giving away one FREE prize pack each week for the next four weeks! You can enter in just 3 easy steps!

CONTEST ENTRY AND RULES:

1. You must join the “I Heart BKFST” Facebook page and paste “BlackandMarriedWithKids.com Sent Me” on their wall. (www.facebook.com/iheartbkfst)

2. You must take the Pledge to eat breakfast on their Facebook page (For every pledge, General Mills will donate $0.25 to Grace House, a foster home for girls in Birmingham, AL, to help purchase groceries for their morning meal, up to $10,000 with a minimum donation of $5,000.)

3. Become a member of our email list.

Once you’ve done all three just leave a comment below letting us know! The comment will serve as your entry number. For Extra Entries tweet out this page. You’ll receive one extra entry for each tweet.

Contest ends at 11:59PM on Sunday Oct. 31st. We’ll select a winner via random.org and will announce them next Monday when the next contest starts. Must be a US resident to win.

iPod Touch Gift Pack Contains:

iPod Touch, I <3 BKFST T-Shirt, Scarf, Apron, 4 Glasses, 4 Bowls and a Carafe!

More info on I <3 BKFST:

Did you know that when African American girls eat breakfast great things can happen? Researchers followed African American girls and their peers for 10 years! They learned that eating breakfast is an important start to your day. According to the research, girls who ate breakfast were more likely to have healthier weights and had lower total cholesterol.

Plus, breakfast gives you energy to start the day!

You can pledge to eat breakfast, and make good-for-you choices like milk, fruit, yogurt and cereal.

Not only will your pledge be a positive step for YOU, but you’ll also impact a girl in need. For every I<3BKFST pledge, General Mills will donate $0.25 to Grace House, a foster home for girls in Birmingham, up to $10,000, with a minimum pledge of $5,000. The money will be used to help Grace House purchase groceries for the girls’ breakfast.

After you pledge you will have access to fun downloads!

FACTS To Know

Did you know that among African-American girls ““ ages 14 to 17 years old”...
“¢38% skip breakfast on any given day;
“¢89% of the cereal the girls consume is eaten with milk;
“¢61% of all the milk consumed in their diets comes from
that eaten with cereal (Ref 1);
“¢In addition, a recent report indicates 24 percent of
African American girls ages 12 to 17 are overweight,
compared to about 15 percent of white girls (Ref 2).
Did you know that overall according to a 1998 study,
kids who ate breakfast ““ compared to children who
skipped the morning meal “...
“¢Performed better at school;
“¢Recorded higher test scores;
“¢Reduced absenteeism and tardiness (Ref 3);

References:
1. NHANES 2007-08
2. Federal Interagency forum on Child and Family Statistics. America’s Children:Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007. Table HEALTH5.
3. Murphy JM et al. The Relationship of School Breakfast to Psychosocial and Academic Functioning: Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Observations in an inner-city School Sample. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1998;152:899-907