Morning Meal A Must For Kids
As a kid, you heard it over and over: “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
Maybe you didn’t pay much attention then. But if you’ve got kids in school, pay attention now: Research shows that kids who are hungry have a harder time focusing on schoolwork.
“Studies show that kids who eat breakfast do better in school. Their overall performance in school is greater,” said Susan Mitchell, a dietitian and author of “I’d Kill For a Cookie” (Dutton). “If nothing else, you’re giving your kids the competitive edge by giving them a good breakfast because it increases alertness and performance.”
Even if your child’s favorite breakfast is a sugar-coated cereal, take heart: Dietitians and educators say that some breakfast, any breakfast, is better than nothing.
“Even leftovers from the night before - cold pizza, a piece of cold chicken - are fine,” said Paulette Fehlen, a registered dietitian at the Winter Park Health Foundation. “As long as they’re getting a balance of foods over the course of the day. And as long as they’re getting something in, that’s the most important thing.”
Toast spread with peanut butter is a great breakfast, Fehlen said. And if you want to layer the top of the peanut butter with slices of banana, that’s even better. Or try a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich on raisin bread.
Toss the ingredients for a milkshake or a yogurt smoothie into your blender before going to bed. You can put the blender pitcher in the freezer or refrigerator overnight and then quickly whip up a smoothie in the morning.
“You can use yogurt and fruit or milk and fruit, and add some ice cubes if you want it to be more of a smoothie,” Fehlen said. “I make shakes with tofu, just to get a good protein source in the morning. But if you use yogurt or milk, you’d be getting a good protein source as well.”
Beware, however, all you parents who think you’ll give your kids a great dose of protein by adding a raw egg to their shakes or smoothies. Because of the risk of salmonella, raw eggs are out - under all circumstances.
If you or your child would rather eat a cup of yogurt for breakfast, you can give it additional punch by sprinkling some crunchy breakfast cereal on top. Most breakfast cereals are fortified with lots of vitamins and minerals, so sneaking them into a breakfast is a good idea whenever possible.
The fruit in a cup of fruit-flavored yogurt isn’t enough to constitute one serving of a fruit, so Fehlen suggests cutting a banana, or half of one, into slices and stirring that into your yogurt.
If you’ve got a little extra time in the morning, consider a fruit pizza for breakfast. Fehlen suggests spreading a tortilla, bagel or an English muffin half with strawberry-flavored light cream cheese, then topping it with some fruit - whether it’s baked apples, freshly cut bananas, or canned fruit.
But your ideal breakfast would be a combination of carbohydrates and protein. Carbohydrates come from grains and, in lesser amounts, fruits and vegetables, while animal products and nuts are our chief sources of protein. So a bagel spread with peanut butter is a good breakfast, nutritionally, even if it sounds loathsome to you.
If your kids will eat cold cereal for breakfast, try experimenting with different types that are high in fiber (4 to 5 grams per serving). “A lot of times kids are constipated and we think that they’re sick,” Mitchell said. “What they really need in their diets is more fiber.”
And if your children don’t eat right, Mitchell said, get them a children’s multivitamin. “To me, vitamins are like an insurance policy,” she said. “They’re not a replacement for eating right, but they’re there in the event that you haven’t been eating right.”
Finally, to all of you parents who are always rushed, please take note: Dietitians say if you are habitually dashing out the door without breakfast, your child is likely to do the same, no matter how much you lecture him or her about the benefits of breakfast.