Get smart about your child's breakfast with these kid-approved and expert-recommended healthy breakfast ideas.
Medically reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH
Can a Healthy Breakfast Enhance School Performance?
All parents hope their kids bring home glowing report cards. But did you know you can help your children succeed in school by revamping their breakfast menu?Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for growing kids. In fact, a review of research published in August 2013 in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that eating a healthy breakfast helped raise grades while skipping breakfast marked a decline in school performance.
"A few nutrients in particular have been highlighted as performance boosters," says Lara Field, MS, RD, CSP, LDN, a pediatric dietitian and the owner and founder of FEED — Forming Early Eating Decisions. Here are five delicious breakfast ideas that incorporate these brainpower-boosting nutrients to help boost your child's school performance.
Breakfast Burrito
Make this kid-friendly burrito, and you'll have breakfast wrapped up in a flash. Fill a whole-wheat tortilla with scrambled eggs, which are a rich source of protein — plus, the yolks are high in choline, a brainpower-boosting vitamin that may help with memory. Sprinkle on a little low-fat cheese, fold in each end of the tortilla, and roll it up. Breakfast burritos are easy to eat on the go, and the whole grains help kids feel full all morning, boosting their ability to concentrate.
Whole-Grain Pancakes
Skip the prepackaged frozen variety and make your own healthy pancakes with ingredients that offer an extra kick to boost school performance: whole grains plus fruits and veggies to help keep your child feeling full and focused. Combine 1/2 cup oats with 1 egg, 4 ounces of puréed carrots, a dash of cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of honey. These pancakes are sweet and delicious, and kids will love the orange color. You can also mix things up by using applesauce, mashed bananas, or other puréed fruits or veggies in place of the carrots.
Breakfast Cookies
Cookies for breakfast? Yes, please! To make this kid-friendly breakfast, mash 3 ripe bananas and mix them with 1/3 cup applesauce, 2 cups quick-cooking oats, 1/4 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup raisins, 1 teaspoon each of vanilla and cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of honey. Allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes, then drop by large spoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. This combo is a good breakfast choice because the oats offer filling whole grains, and the raisins are a good source of iron. Without key nutrients like iron, kids can easily get tired and find it difficult to concentrate, Field says.
Peanut Butter Wrap
For another kid-friendly breakfast that comes together in a snap, spread peanut (or another nut) butter on a whole-wheat tortilla. Peel a banana and place it whole or sliced along one edge of the tortilla, then roll it up. This portable, fun breakfast is packed with nutrients to help with school performance. Fields describes it as "a winning combination, keeping kids feeling full for the day."
Quinoa Bowl
For healthy eating with a twist, swap your child's usual hot cereal with a steaming bowl of quinoa, a whole grain that also packs plenty of protein to help keep energy levels high and prevent a sugar crash mid-morning. Boil 3 cups of milk — skim, almond, or an alternative — with 1 cup of quinoa. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Dish it out and top it with fresh raspberries, blueberries, 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon and brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil. It's a colorful, sweet treat that may help keep kids focused all day long.
Read Also - 34 Healthy Breakfasts for Mornings on the Run
No comments:
Post a Comment