“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.
Pooh would be horrified if he knew that nearly one in 10 children skips breakfast on a regular basis and turns up to school with an empty stomach.
Their excuses range from the forgivable “I don’t feel hungry when I get up” to the unforgivable “I just don’t have enough time”. But does it matter if they miss out?
Marie-Claire Davies, an experienced primary school teacher who works with nutritionists at the University of Leeds, thinks it does.
“I can always tell children who have not had breakfast. Their behaviour starts to show the effects. They can be listless and lack concentration. They cannot apply themselves to their work.”
This is hardly surprising as research has shown that skipping breakfast can have a big effect on a child’s ability to concentrate. It also affects memory. All of which are essential for doing well at school. Skipping breakfast means a child may not have eaten for 12 hours. The body then has to draw on its reserves of energy to keep going, and hunger will soon start to gnaw away. For a growing child, this can mean they do not obtain enough of the nutrients they need.
Take calcium, which is essential for the growing skeleton and teeth. Breakfast may provide up to a third of the daily requirement from foods such as milk and bread. Without breakfast, a child will miss out and is unlikely to catch up later in the day unless they drink milk.
The same is true of iron. Breakfast cereals are an important source of iron in the diet and can contribute to a third of a child’s daily intake. Low intakes can lead to anaemia, which is not uncommon in the UK.
Children who miss breakfast are also more likely to become overweight. They get hungry and eat anything to “catch up” on a missed breakfast – usually foods high in fat and sugar.
Breakfast is a great source of dietary fibre which comes from wholegrain cereals and bread. It is very important for digestive health. Wholegrain cereals contain carbohydrate that is released slowly into the blood, keeping hunger at bay until lunch time.
So what is a good breakfast? A nutritious breakfast should contain about a third of a child’s daily intake of energy – about 400 to 600 calories depending on the age and sex of the child. It should contain some wholegrain cereal such as wholemeal toast, oats, Weetabix, Shreddies or Shredded Wheat eaten with semi-skimmed milk for children over two years. If you must – keep high sugar cereals like Sugar Puffs or those eaten with sugar for holidays.
Fruit should be a key part of a child’s breakfast. Between one and three portions can be squeezed in. Perhaps a ripe banana sliced over a bowl of cereal or on toast with some honey dribbled over. A few berries, such as strawberries, raspberries or blueberries scattered over cereal is popular with children. And a glass of fruit juice or a fresh fruit smoothie can really help a child who cannot eat first thing to get some nutritious food on board.
Keep fry-ups for the occasional treat. Two rashers of bacon, an egg, tomato and sausage with two pieces of buttered toast can add up to 800 calories. This is far too much for an adult, let alone a child. A poached, scrambled or boiled egg with some wholemeal toast is fine. Or a grilled rasher of bacon with tomatoes or mushrooms on toast is also a tasty option.
You might be tempted to send your child out with a quick-fix breakfast such as a cereal bar. Don’t. Most contain about five teaspoons of sugar and do not contain the same amount of calcium as a cereal and milk option.
Think of breakfast as a foundation meal and try to eat it with your children.
Super-fast porridge
Porridge is an ideal food for starting the day. It contains beta glucan, a type of soluble fibre which can help regulate cholesterol and stave off hunger. Oats are a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Add dried fruit, nuts and a little honey.
Seves 1
- 1 small cup of quick cook oats such as Mornflake
- 2 small measures of water or milk
- Dried or fresh fruit such as chopped dates, apricots, sultanas or chopped banana or berries.
Place the oats and water or milk in a pan. Stir and boil for one minute only and you’ve got yourself a full-flavour, creamy porridge. Scatter with chopped dried or fresh fruit.
Granola
A crunchy cereal which children can help to make.
Makes about 20 servings
- 2 tbsp sunflower, rapeseed or grapenut oil
- 4 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 300g rolled oats
- 50g sunflower seeds
- 4 tbsp sesame seeds
- 50g pumpkin seeds
- 100g flaked almonds
- 100g dried fruit or berries such as dates, cherries, apricots, cranberries.
- 50g desiccated coconut
Heat oven to 150C
Mix the oil, maple syrup, honey and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, except the dried fruit. Mix well. Place the granola onto two baking sheets and spread evenly. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the mix is beginning to brown slightly.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Place in an airtight container and add the coconut. Serve with cold milk or yogurt. The granola can be stored in an airtight container for a month.
Pineapple, banana and orange smoothie
When you prepare a pineapple, remove the prickly skin and slice lengthways into four. Cut approximately 2cm from the lengthways edge of the pineapple to remove the fibrous core. Cut into chunks and stored in the fridge or freeze. Don’t worry if you leave a few prickles on the pineapple as they will disappear when you blitz. I find a stick blender the easiest to use.
Serves 2
- 1/6 pineapple
- 1 ripe banana, roughly chopped
- Juice of large orange
- 100-200ml cool carbonated mineral water
Place the pineapple, banana, orange juice and water into a jug or food processor and blitz for 30 seconds.
Blackberry and apple juice spritzer
Serves 2
- 2 large handfuls of ripe blackberries. Avoid those growing next to a road.
- 3 desert apples washed, quartered with stalk removed. No need to peel or core
- 200ml cold sparkling mineral water
Gradually feed the blackberries and chopped apples into the juicer. Blackberry juice has a very concentrated colour and delicate flowery flavour and so you don’t need many. Check the balance of flavours adding a few more blackberries if you need to. Add sparkling mineral
water for a refreshing hydrating drink.
Dr Joan Ransley is a lecturer in nutrition at the University of Leeds. She is also a member of the Guild of Food Writers.