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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – It is the beginning of a new school year with a new teacher and perhaps even a new school. Parents are anxious and want their children to do well. Study after study has demonstrated that a good breakfast and active recess time are two of the most influential drivers for success at school.
Recess may be just as important as learning to read because kids who are inactive have less interest in learning. Advocate that your children get regular physical education and daily recess at school where they have time to run and play. Findings to date are mixed about whether recess should come before or after lunch. Advocates of the play-first-eat-later camp believe that children who are active before lunch will eat more because they are hungrier after playing. For some children eating after recess is more comfortable than playing with a full stomach. When kids eat after recess they often take more time to eat because they are not in a rush to get to the playground. Whether lunch is before or after recess the most important point is that children get to run and play.
Regular exercise helps children:
- Feel less stressed
- Feel better about themselves
- Be more ready to learn in school
- Keep a healthy weight
- Build and keep healthy bones, muscles and joints
- Avoid serious health problems like heart disease, depression and diabetes
- Sleep better at night
Couple activity with a healthy breakfast and you have a winning combination. An empty stomach is no way to start the school day. Kids who eat breakfast almost every day have higher IQ scores than those who leave the house without eating. After an entire night without food, breakfast “breaks the fast” and supplies the body and brain with the fuel needed to function.
Eating breakfast is associated with being more alert and higher test scores. Though younger children benefit the most because essential learning, such as basic reading and math, are taught in the lower grades, college students who ate breakfast did better on memory tests.
What kids eat at breakfast counts as well. Children who ate unhealthy choices like donuts or soda did not have a positive impact on school performance. In a study of more than 5,000 elementary school children, those that ate a good quality breakfast did better in school. Traditional breakfast foods – milk, eggs, cereal, yogurt, fruit, juice, and bread – add valuable nutrients to a child’s diet. Healthy foods have been linked to better reading skills in the first three years of school. Kids who skip breakfast may never make up the nutrient shortfall of vitamin D, potassium, calcium and fiber with other meals throughout the day.
Mornings with young kids can be chaotic and getting kids to sit and eat breakfast can be a real challenge, especially if you are heading out the door to work yourself. When there is time to eat breakfast surprise your child with breakfast options that might be somewhat out of the ordinary. Many children eat better in the morning when offered nontraditional breakfast choices. Ask them what they would like to eat then guide the selection to a healthy variation. The first choice below is a good example.
· Whole wheat English muffin pizza
· Toasted cheese on a whole wheat bread
· Leftovers from last night’s dinner
· Soup and whole grain crackers
When time is short and you need on-the-go choices consider:
· Premix dry cereal, nuts and dried fruit in a zip lock bag plus a milk box
· Drinkable yogurt, whole grain crackers and single serve apple slices
· Peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole grain bread
· Breakfast bar with protein and fiber, milk box and grapes
· Wrap cheese in a tortilla and warm it the microwave with a 100% juice box and raw carrots
· A hard cooked egg, buttered whole grain roll and orange juice
· Popcorn (a whole grain), chocolate milk box and a banana ( this combination will surprise and delight any young child )
· Yogurt, applesauce and graham crackers (a whole grain)
Some of these ideas may seems a little odd if you prefer traditional breakfast choices but thinking outside the box often surprises kids into doing what is good for them – eating breakfast and doing well in school.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of 30 books. Available as eBooks from iTunes and Kindle/Amazon:
Diabetes Counter
Calorie Counter
Protein Counter
Healthy Wholefoods Counter
Complete Food Counter
Fat and Cholesterol Counter
Available in print from Gallery Books:
Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd Ed.
Your Complete Food Counter App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-complete-food-counter/id444558777?mt=8
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com.
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