Many studies have proven that breakfast helps school children and all students of every age perform better in school. It has been associated with better memory, better test scores, and better attention span. In addition, breakfast also contribute to better sleep, ideal body weight, and over all nutrition.
Breakfast, however, seems to be one of the challenges for parents. It could be time constraints when each member of the family has a very busy schedule. It seems each one has to be ready to set off to go to work or school. It is not time constraints, it could be that children themselves do not like eating breakfast at all. As such, breakfast is often neglected.
Parents can prepare foods that are attractive to children and are healthy. Easy to eat foods like sandwiches and boiled eggs are easy to prepare and consume. Fresh fruits, cereals, milk, and porridge are all healthy and filling options. Committing extra time and effort to prepare healthy breakfast for the family especially the children is vital to ensure that children get a pack of good and healthy breakfast before they go to school.
To have a variety of breakfast recipes served everyday which children will enjoy eating, scheduling a breakfast recipe with them is helpful. School nurses can suggest to teachers to discuss this with parents during conferences, or better yet, the nurse can conduct a health conference with parents and teachers as well as the students.
To address time constraint, another brilliant suggestion is to prepare breakfast before bedtime. Viands like chicken adobo or pork higadilyo can be prepared at night and these can be eaten during breakfast with rice and boiled eggs. There are other recipes that do not spoil which can be cooked at night and served in the morning. These foods will even make good packed lunch to school. The children will have something to eat which is not only nutritious but cleanly prepared as well.
Despite the busy schedules, it is important to ensure that children eat their breakfast to be ready for a busy school day. Surely, their academic performance and their enjoyment to school will greatly increase if their stomachs are full, and so is their hearts.
REFERENCES:
“Breakfast is ‘most important meal’”. BBC. 7 March 2003. Retrievedon December 2, 2016.
Giovannini M, Verduci E, Scaglioni S, Salvatici E, Bonza M, Riva E, Agostoni C (2008).“Breakfast: a good habit, not a repetitive custom”.J Int Med Res.Retrieved on December 3, 2016 at http://www.nutritionorg.com/breakfastforchildren.pdf
Leidy HJ, Gwin JA, Roenfeldt CA, Zino AZ, Shafer RS (2016).“Evaluating the Intervention-Based Evidence Surrounding the Causal Role of Breakfast on Markers of Weight Management, with Specific Focus on Breakfast Composition and Size.” Retrieved from http://advances.nutrition.org/content/7/3/563S.long
By: Mary Edwina R. Paguio | Nurse II | DepEd- Schools Division Office of Bataan
