Breakfast is vital. Breakfast breaks the night’s fast as your body has probably had no food for 10 hours. It raises blood sugar levels and kick-starts the body’s metabolism. Without it, the body simply has no energy; like a car without petrol, it is running on empty.
A good breakfast improves your day, your performance and your mood. And it is the most important meal of the day — so why is it then that nearly a quarter of us rush out of the door with no breakfast at all? Children certainly need breakfast; this essential meal is needed to restore blood sugar levels after the overnight fast, to provide fuel for energy. For a variety of reasons, many children arrive at school having not eaten anything for breakfast. As a direct result, they are too hungry to concentrate and learn effectively.
Unfortunately, early morning can be the most difficult time of the day in any home; time is short and everyone is rushing. Parents are often at their busiest and it can be difficult to sit down and wait while children often slowly eat breakfast. Probably the words we use most in the morning are “hurry up” or “yalla”. Mornings can be stressful at times even in the most organized of homes as no one wants to be late. Parents are busy packing lunch boxes and getting themselves ready to go to work. The nourishing calm breakfast can get lost somewhere in the hurly-burly especially if someone has lost a book or forgotten to do some homework.
The food industry is all too happy to provide us with a quick solution. The quick breakfast cereal which has been hijacked by sugar and sweet chocolate, and cereal bars, all targeted specifically at children. The food industry adds sugar because they know children will enjoy cereal containing sugar, and the mothers will buy the same brand again if the children are happy to eat it. Many cereals and cereal bars have a worse nutrition profile than chocolate biscuits. So, when you buy a breakfast cereal, check the sugar content!
Children need fuel for learning, and studies have found that children in the United Kingdom who skip breakfast could not concentrate and arrive at school in a poor mood and not ready to learn. A hungry child will not be keen to learn. Whereas children eating a healthy breakfast were calmer and preformed better in aptitude tests both verbal and non-verbal.
• Always provide a drink.
• Include a piece of fruit, smoothie or fresh fruit juice or a vegetable for vitamin C.
• Shredded wheat is a good source of fiber that prevents constipation and lowers the risk of heart disease.
• Bowl of muesli (buy sugar and salt free) with chopped banana, spoonful of yogurt and a little milk.
• Boiled egg with whole meal bread soldiers.
• Bagels are a good chose because they are low fat, low sugar, zero cholesterol and high carbohydrate — i.e. good fuel for the body.
• Whole meal toast with a little butter, which contains Vitamin E, with a banana or honey rather than sugary jam, which is quickly digested.
There is an old saying: “Eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a lord, and eat supper like a poor man.”
Enjoy your breakfast!
Sedentary lives make us fat. Everyone needs to be active. You just need to be more active. If you love television, don’t sit on the sofa — use your time constructively. Sit on an exercise bike and pedal away to your favorite program. Unwind with a game of ball with the children. Go for an evening walk with your family before supper. Clean the car, or use the stairs at work. Every little bit of exercise helps your body — burns calories — lowers cholesterol — improves your mood — and relieves stress. Whatever exercise you choose, for it to be successful it has to fit in with your life. Sign up for my monthly newsletter for regular tips on healthy living slimming, diet and exercise by e-mailing to [email protected].
