• Start kids out with a healthy breakfast. After eight to 12 hours without a meal or snack, children’s bodies need fuel, and eating a nutritious breakfast will keep the mid-day ravenous munchies at bay and keep them alert to learn during the day.
Breakfast skippers often feel tired, irritable or restless in the morning, but those who regularly eat a morning meal have a better attitude towards school and have more energy by late morning to concentrate and solve problems.
• Don’t let kids use the excuse of not being hungry. Even eating a small breakfast can help.
• Make breakfast fun by planning it with your children. But make sure they choose the right breakfast foods. A breakfast of nothing but sugary foods, such as fruit, fruit juice, candy or pop, results in a quick rise in blood sugar, which causes a rush of energy. But an hour later, the energy –and your children are terribly hungry.
A balanced breakfast should include foods containing carbohydrate, sugar, protein and fat.
• Keep quick-to-fix foods on hand or get breakfast foods ready the night before. Cereal, bagels, toaster waffles, yogurt, canned and fresh fruit, juice, milk, cheese and cottage cheese are all good options.
• Know what your kids are eating at school. If you don’t pack their healthy lunches, then check to see if they’re raiding the vending machines or eating healthier lunches in the cafeteria. Keep a menu of the school lunches in your kitchen and teach your kids how to make healthy choices.
• Support the nutrition education efforts at school. Find out what your child is learning, and try to apply those lessons at home.
• Pack your kids’ lunch bags with meals that are easy to prepare, fun to eat, as well as being nutritious. Good bets are sandwiches, raw veggies, crackers, string cheese, whole fruit and pudding.
Help your kids make the "nutrition honor roll" this year at school, so they radiate energy, stamina and self-esteem to learn and stay active.
