Making Breakfast Queen

School is back in session and with it comes the frantic mornings of packing lunches, making sure your kids have their shoes on the correct feet, checking homework and catching the bus on time.  Unfortunately, in the craziness of getting everyone ready, you’ve forgotten one of the most important things you can do to prepare your family for a healthy and productive day, serving breakfast. 

Sure, we’ve all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but is it really true?  The answer is YES!  

Breakfast provides much needed energy after a long night of fasting.  Recharging the body can be quite simple with a healthy breakfast filled with complex carbohydrates that come from fruit, whole grains and low-fat dairy.

Not only does your body get a boost from breakfast but your mind does as well.  Eating breakfast improves brain activity, helping you retain information and recall information better than if you were to skip the meal altogether. 

Kids who eat breakfast, perform better and have better grades.  However, research is still unclear as to why eating breakfast helps children do better in school.  It may be because kids can focus on the tasks at hand rather than their rumbling tummies or that the nervous system begins to work better with more energy in the form of carbohydrates.  The truth is that breakfast makes a positive impact whether we know the exact science behind it or not.

Teens are more likely to eat breakfast if their friends do according to research published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.  Breakfast can be a social time for teens specifically.  If they don’t want to eat breakfast with boring ‘ole Dad and their little siblings then encourage them to socialize and partake in a meal with friends before the bell rings.  

What can you do to ensure that you and your kids are enjoying a healthy breakfast that prepares everyone for the day?  Here are some suggestion:

• If you wake up on time, try scrambling some eggs mixed with veggies and adding a side of toast. 
• If you are in a slight rush, you can’t go wrong with whole grain cereal topped with fresh tundra berries. 
• If you are in a habit of being constantly late, try preparing a meal the night before by making a recipe of overnight oats.  
• If you forgot to run to the store the day before, let your kids enjoy a meal at school with friends.  The National School Lunch Program offers students the option of a healthy breakfast and lunch.

It’s a new school year, set your family up right by encouraging them to eat a healthy, well-balanced breakfast while you lead by example.