Saturday 10 January 2015

A healthy breakfast for children

Eating breakfast is the first meal of the day and also said to be the most important. 

And it is!

While adults need to eat breakfast each day to set them up for a productive and energy filled day, children need it even more. Children have growing bodies and developing brains and need regular refueling often, from food. When children skip breakfast, they don't get what they need to be at their best.

Eating a nutritious and wholesome morning meal can save you time in the long run. By recharging both the brain and the body, you'll be more efficient in just about everything you do. Children need this every single day.

So what is the best breakfast to feed your family, especially the children in the family? There are so many sites about what to eat and more about what not to eat, that quite simply it becomes overwhelming if you start trying to do research on the internet.

As a parent my biggest issue is making sure that my family, especially the younger members, don't have sugar filled cereals. When my children have friends come to stay, so many of them ask for the sugary cereals and are surprised when we don't have these.

One of the sites I really like for helpful information on children in general is www.kidspot.com.au. When looking for great breakfast ideas for kids I found this information in the following article:

"Ideally you should be looking to get your kids to eat around 20 percent of their daily calories at the breakfast table." http://www.kidspot.com.au/schoolzone/Breakfast-Best-breakfast-ideas+4266+330+article.htm

Admittedly this article appears to be written by a company that makes breakfast cereals, however it is still a good reminder that we need to be careful when preparing breakfast for children.

Now there are lots of sites where you can find "easy to make breakfasts for children". Something I have found is that some of these breakfasts can not only take time, but seem like they'd be a great idea for a treat but not an everyday meal.

The most common foods I found to be healthy and easy were eggs, muffins, pancakes and shakes.

“A Boiled Egg In A Cup” by Mister GC
Boiled egg

 “Happy Kid Holding A Glass Of Milk” by photostock
Glass of milk

One of my favourite breakfasts to make that my entire family enjoy is French Toast. That is so easy to make and fun to cook. I let our youngest help to cook this. He loves the fact that it is messy (dipping the bread in the egg) and quick to cook.

“French Toast For Breakfast” by foto76
French Toast
No matter what you end up feeding your children for breakfast it needs to be something that will help them to be happier, healthier and stronger young people.

So what's for breakfast tomorrow?

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