Goodness of Breakfast for Children
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and no matter what children eat for breakfast – the most important thing is that they have breakfast. However, some breakfast foods are more nutritious than others. By including protein (such as milk or yoghurt) and carbohydrates (such as cereal, bread, rice or noodles), this helps to maintain energy levels which aids in concentration levels and assists with learning at school.
Energy comes from glucose or sugar that our bodies store in the blood. This sugar ends up in the liver, which then releases it as energy in bursts throughout the day, in the form of glycogen. If you skip breakfast, your body will run out of glycogen by the middle of the morning and when this happens, your body is like a car that runs out of gas.
If children skip breakfast, they'll feel tired and lacking energy by mid morning. It will be harder for them to concentrate and they'll probably be irritable too.
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Children mainly need the same foods as adults, however as they are still growing and developing they need different amounts of certain nutrients. Their smaller size also means that children tend to need smaller servings of the same foods that adults eat.
The food pyramid arranges foods into three groups, we all need to eat most of the foods in the bottom of the pyramid and only eat a little of the foods in the top of the pyramid.
But we don’t need to squeeze all of these into breakfast, lunch and dinner. Children have little stomachs and big energy needs, so they need to have two to three between-meal snacks a day. If you try to make these snacks healthy (e.g. carrot sticks, fruit, yoghurt, a glass of milk, wholegrain sandwiches), this will help your child to get a lot of their daily food group servings - often without them even realising it.
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Milk is packed with goodness for growing children such as: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, vitamins and zinc. Milk also supplies other essential nutrients for growing children, including protein for muscle growth and vitamins like riboflavin that release the energy from food.
The goodness of milk helps the development of strong bones, assists in weight management and it can give you something to smile about because milk helps people to grow and maintain healthy teeth.
So what's in a glass of milk?
- Protein. Crucial for the formation, repair, and maintenance of body tissues
- Fat. Needed for energy and the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K
- Carbohydrate. Lactose is the main carbohydrate in milk - it is an important source of energy
- Calcium. Needed for strong healthy teeth and bones
- Phosphorus a vital part of the body's cells
- Magnesium. An important in bone mineralisation and nerve impluses
- Zinc. Good for the immune system and healthy growth
- Vitamin A. For vision and maintaining the immune system
- Riboflavin. Releases energy from food
- Vitamin B12. For new cell formation and growth
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Wholegrains are an important part of a balanced diet and lifestyle. Each part of the grain contains essential nutrients, so when you eat wholegrains, you get the complete package of nutritional goodness – protein, carbohydrate, fibre, and vitamins (including B vitamins such as thiamin and folate).
Research shows that wholegrains improve health and wellbeing. It makes good nutrition sense to eat at least four serves of grain based foods every day - with at least half these serves being wholegrain. For example, enjoy Weet-Bix for breakfast and a wholegrain sandwich for lunchWeet-Bix is…
- High in carbohydrates, which are an ideal energy source for the body
- Rich in folate for healthy body cells
- High in Fibre, Iron and B Vitamins
- Low on added sugar and fat
- An excellent source of B Vitamins – thiamine, riboflavin and niacin which are needed to help our body use the energy from the food we eat