The Observer Newspapers | The Smart Start

August 29, 2008

The Smart Start—Eating Breakfast

According to Fairfax County Public Schools, breakfast is the most important meal of the day—"it 'breaks' the night's 'fast' by replacing the energy reserves our body used overnight." However, according to FCPS, school-aged children, especially teens, often skip their breakfast.

"All you have to do is look at their faces," said Jerry Kovalcik, principal at Crossfield Elementary School. He watches about 750 children, from kindergarten through sixth grade, walk through the front doors every weekday during the school year, and he said, "It is easy to see which of the children had a good night's sleep, and/or a good breakfast, in their energy level first thing in the morning. It's not hard to figure out."

Kovalcik said younger students at Crossfield begin their day with "circle time," during which their teachers talk to them about the day's events, play games with them and sing "wake-up" songs. "The teachers can easily read who is alert, attentive and ready to go," he said. "On the other hand, there are students who are putting their heads down on their laps, and later on their desks, yawning, and complaining of being tired. These are also the little ones who are very hungry by mid-morning when they have to pay attention during the reading or math lesson."

Research shows that students who eat breakfast learn better, are more alert and attentive, and are more likely to participate in activities. Breakfast is such an important topic in the public schools that October has been declared as "Breakfast Month" in all of the FCPS parent newsletters and school communications.

Parents of children who skip breakfast should keep a stock of quick nutritious choices, such as whole-grain cereal and toast, breakfast bars, bagels, and yogurt, according to the FCPS. Most importantly, young children are imitators of their parents, and parents should not forget their own breakfast.

"Even a nutritious breakfast drink is better than nothing, something like Instant Breakfast, or drinkable yogurt," said Kovalcik, who added that he packs a banana on mornings where he is especially early to school. "I get teased in the school office because I am eating a banana every morning," he said with a laugh.

Kovalcik said that as many as one-quarter of his school's student body might skip breakfast or might not have had a good night's sleep. Those are the children, he said, who are "really dragging by mid-morning" and their exhaustion or hunger is shown in their body language.

Meanwhile, he said, eating a healthy breakfast "improves a child's performance on demanding mental tasks and reaction to frustration." Children who have eaten breakfast "also perform better on standardized tests than those who skip breakfast," Kovalcik said. "With kids who leave the house to catch the bus after the parents have left for work, it could be as easy as a bowl of cereal and milk, or yogurt, and a banana or orange. It does not have to be something difficult for a young child to prepare on his own."

Grocery stores sell a large variety of yogurt breakfast drinks or parents can make homemade breakfast smoothies by blending together vanilla yogurt, a small amount of apple or peach juice, a banana, and frozen peaches or frozen strawberries. My family keeps a stock of fresh peaches to make fresh peach smoothies by combining vanilla yogurt with some apple juice and ice in a blender. I also recommend experimenting with the portions of ingredients depending on your taste.

Kovalcik said research shows that eating breakfast reduces the risk of childhood obesity. "When you skip breakfast, extreme hunger tends to promote poor choices in foods," he said. "Eating a good breakfast tends to keep their weight under control because they make better choices throughout the day. This is even true with adults."

According to the Food and Research Action Council, adolescents who eat breakfast tend to have a lower body mass index. Higher BMIs can indicate overweight and obesity. Girls who eat breakfast are also more likely to have lower BMI than girls who skip breakfast.

"It comes down to choices," said Kovalcik. "Getting up 15 to 20 minutes earlier to make the family a nutritious breakfast can give your child a lot of advantages academically, socially and physically. For those parents who have to leave earlier, having nutritious options that the child can prepare for himself or herself is perfectly fine, too. Making breakfast part of the daily routine is what is important."

Peach/Mango Frozen Smoothie

1/2 cup Dole peach/mango juice

6 oz. peach yogurt

1/2 cup frozen peach slices

1/2 cup frozen mango slices

1 cup ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth.

Strawberry/Banana Frozen Smoothie

1/2 cup apple juice

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

1 cup fresh strawberries, washed and hulled

1 large banana, peeled

1 1/2 cups ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth.

Three Rivers B&B Bran Muffins

3 cups All-Bran

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup raisins

1 cup boiling water

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup molasses

2 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour

4 tsp. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, combine cereal, oil and raisins, and pour the boiling water over them. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk and molasses. Add this to the partly cooled cereal mixture. In another small bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the cereal mixture, stirring just enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Cover the batter with plastic wrap and let it stand for about one hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 24 muffin cups, and divide the batter among the cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake the muffins for 20 minutes. Remove the muffins from the oven, and when they are slightly cooled, take them out of the tin and place them on a rack to cool. These can be frozen and reheated quickly in the microwave.