By Francy Pillo-Blocka, RD FDC
I love the saying “start as you mean to finish.” This is one of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People principles. This came to mind as I sat to write about the importance of breakfast for school performance. We want kids to go to school and be the best they can possibly be. That’s the “finish” we are striving for. To do this we need to “start” right and help kids eat a balanced breakfast every day.
I see long line-ups of cars at coffee shop drive through windows in the early morning. I also see people gobbling down a high-fat, high-sugar flaky pastry with a super jumbo-sized coffee on the subway. We are role models for our children, so we should consider what our actions are teaching our kids. It is well known that we can think and function better when we have eaten. You cannot drive a car without filling it up with gas, nor can your body’s engine ignite when you are running on empty. To get the best performance, you need to use top quality fuel.
Decisions, decisions, decisions
Time is of the essence on school mornings as kids roll out of bed. A number of priorities are competing for those precious moments before the school bell rings. For example figuring out what to have for breakfast, deciding what to wear, packing a lunch, finishing homework, organizing a backpack and more. The more planning and preparation you and your kids do the evening before, the easier it is to deal with the morning time crunch.
Encourage your kids to set the table for breakfast and decide what to eat. The decision about whether to have breakfast does not even need to be made in the morning. It has already been decided! Consider making other decisions such as preparing lunch and deciding what to wear the night before to help your kids save time in the morning. If they hit the snooze button a few times they will still have time to eat.
Balanced breakfasts with protein power
Use Canada’s Food Guide with your children to decide what to have for breakfast. A general rule of thumb is to include at least three of the four food groups: meat and alternatives, milk and alternatives, fruit and vegetables, or grains.
A key to creating a healthy breakfast is including at least one source of protein. Excellent protein food choices include milk and milk products (such as yogurt or cheese), eggs, nut butter, meat or fish.
A balanced breakfast that contains protein (along with the other macronutrients, fats and carbohydrates) will be digested and absorbed more slowly. This will give your child’s breakfast more staying power, helping to boost their memory and concentration at school. A meal that only contains carbohydrates gets digested quickly, meaning that hunger pangs return much sooner. That is not a recipe for school success!
Fast and easy breakfast ideas
Pick and choose from these sample breakfasts to get the best start to the day.
- Try a fruit smoothie made with seasonal berries and yogurt or milk, and a muffin.
- Have a whole wheat wrap, spread with peanut butter and a sliced up banana, with a glass of milk.
- Have a bowl of whole grain cereal with milk and add sliced peaches.
- Mix some granola into your favorite yogurt and serve it with a 125mL glass of fruit juice.
- Make a sandwich with cheese and leftovers such as roast beef, chicken or frittata.
Consider you and your family “starting as you mean to finish” each day with a balanced breakfast containing protein. A little bit of planning will go a long way. The benefits to your kids will be great. As you eat a balanced breakfast, you will be the best role model for your kids and you will reap the benefits too.
Francy Pillo-Blocka RD FDC is the Clinical Educator for AboutKidsHealth. She is fondly referred to as Francy the Foodie and writes about various aspects of family, food, nutrition, and lifestyle for your interest. She trained, then worked at SickKids as a clinical dietitian in patient care and conducted practice-based research from 1987 to 1998 in general paediatrics, clinical nutrition, adolescent medicine, cardiology, neurology, and more.
