Breakfast, 'fabulous' meal for your growing Kids

by Shanika Sriyananda

Is the breakfast not so 'fabulous' for your growing kids? Why not? The best meal that you can prepare for your child is the morning meal to keep him quite active during the day.

After more than 10 to 12 hours over the night in an empty stomach, the energy reserves in the body are low and need fuel to function well. A good breakfast will keep your child going until lunchtime and will help the child to do better at school.

Skipping breakfast is more likely to make your child fatter in the long run. The child is more likely to be hungry by mid-morning and eat heavily during lunchtime and that is bad for him.

Consultant Medical Nutritionist of the Medical Research Institute (MRI) Dr. Renuka Jayatissa says that one third (over 20 per cent) of the required nutrients, including iron, calcium, fibre, phosphorus and magnesium, as well as vitamins such as riboflavin, vitamins A, C, and B12, for the child's age, comes from breakfast.

According to Dr. Jayatissa, children who skip breakfast will end up with iron deficiency, leading to anaemia. And also, they are more prone to diabetes and high blood pressure since they are obese.

"Several researches have found that children who skip breakfast frequently will lack the power of decision-making in their adulthood. Children who eat healthy breakfasts are able to solve problems better and can think faster and more clearly.", says Dr. Jayatissa, who is a member of the research team of the study which was conducted in 2003, when over 15,000 schoolchildren aged between five to 14-years were interviewed. The findings resulted in giving the mid-day meal for schoolchildren.

The study found that over 20 per cent schoolchildren skipped their breakfast and the majority were from the Colombo district. These children skip the morning meal due to lack of time caused by traffic congestion in the city during morning hours. The second highest were from Ampara, because of poverty and also the lack of knowledge about the importance of having a meal in the morning.

These children have several health problems. Over 20 per cent were underweight and malnourished. Of the children interviewed, over 20 per cent were anaemics and eight percent were overweight. Over 20 percent did not eat fruits and green vegetables and a further 20 per cent lacked physical activities having been burdened with tuition classes added with homework.

Many busy mothers give fast foods for their children and lunch boxes packed with oily food, which have a high percentage of fat. In the mornings it is easy to grab something quickly, that is likely to be packed with sugar and fat. "This is not a good practice, as in the long run children are more vulnerable to obesity and various illnesses", she advises.

Parents can play a big role to encourage their children to eat breakfast by setting a good example. The best example you can set is by eating breakfast yourself. Your child is more likely to develop healthy eating habits if he or she sees you having breakfast each morning.

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A study conducted by the State of Minnesota on the correlation between breakfast and performance in school shows that "children who eat breakfast before going to school perform better in mathematics and reading, increase their attention span and improve their overall behaviour."

A good breakfast helps a child's overall performance during school, by:

* Providing the energy needed to start the day.

* Eliminating hunger symptoms such as headache, fatigue, sleepiness and restlessness.

* Helping them to think faster when doing school work and respond more clearly to the teacher's questions.

* Increasing mental performance.

* Making them less likely to be irritable.

* Helping to keep them from "drifting" during class.

* Causing them to be calmer and less anxious.

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Why do children skip breakfast?

There are many reasons why children skip breakfast. Although some of the excuses are understandable, none of them are a good enough excuse for skipping the most important meal of the day.

According to Dr. Jayatissa, the most common reason, especially in the Western Province is lack of time in the mornings because children need to go early to beat the traffic. So, they skip the morning meals and also it is too early for them to have breakfast before going out.

Remember these common reasons for skipping breakfast can be avoided easily.

* "I overslept" - Set the alarm for 15 minutes earlier.

* "I'm not that hungry in the morning" - Drink a fruit juice made with skim milk and strawberries and bananas instead of eating.

* "I am too rushed so there is no time to eat" - Prepare for school the night before by laying out the next day's clothes, packing lunch and a backpack.

* "I don't like breakfast" - Eat something non-traditional like cold pizza or leftover chicken.

* "I'm trying to lose weight" - Skipping breakfast does not help lose weight. In fact, children who skip breakfast tend to consume more calories later on in the day thereby gaining weight instead.

How parents can deal with... Disobedience

Disobedience is the greatest concern all parents face. It starts just before the child turns two and may carry on into the teenage years.

Reasons why

1. Parents are either too lax or too harsh in their discipline.

2. Parents are inconsistent, that is, each parent have different methods of discipline. There is also inconsistent enforcement of rules.

3. The child is strong-willed, attention-seeking, tired, ill, hungry or emotionally upset.

4. The child is not recognised or praised when he is obedient.

5. Parents are not meeting child's emotional needs, thus child has no desire to please parents.

How to prevent

1. Build a close relationship by spending quality time alone with your child.

2. Set an example in your own attitude towards authority.

3. Where possible, give children choices. When asking your child to keep his things, you can say, "Do you want to keep your books first in the cupboard, or do you want to keep your cars first?"

4. Do not restrict your child with too many rules.

5. Give a warning in advance, for example, "It is five minutes to bedtime".

6. Set realistic standards that is within your child's capability.

7. Accept and recognise child's feelings of anger or frustration on having to comply to rules.

8. In your discipline method, use more encouragement and rewards than punishment.

9. Avoid nagging, criticism, threats, shaming and yelling.

What to do

1. Be patient, firm, kind and respectful to your child.

2. Give simple, clear, specific and positive directions to young children.

3. Take every possible opportunity to point out his contributions and strengths. Praise or reward child whenever he obeys.

4. Use a chart to record how often he does a task and challenge him to do it more often.

5. Set rules with rewards and penalties made known in advance. Be consistent in your enforcement of rules.

Rewards - for example

"When both of you can play quietly for the next half hour, I will bring you to the Shopping Centre."

Penalty - for example

"If you have not finished your homework by the time I get home from work, you will not be able to watch TV for the rest of the evening."

Source: Handling Common Problems of Children.

Active life may help elderly keep their eyesight

Keeping an active lifestyle can reduce the risk of developing an eye disease that is a leading cause of blindness in the elderly, researchers said on Tuesday. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) gradually destroys the central vision of the eye.

It is linked to ageing but scientists in the United States have found that physical activity such as walking and climbing stairs has a protective effect against it.

Exercise helped to reduce the odds of suffering from "wet", or exudative, AMD a form of the condition in which new blood vessels grow behind the eye causing bleeding and scarring which leads to distorted vision and impaired sight. The effects were still noticed after taking of other risk factors such as weight, blood pressure and smoking.

"Engaging in an active lifestyle or walking more ... reduced the risk of developing exudative AMD over 15 years by 70 per cent and 30 percent, respectively," Michael Knudtson, of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said in a report in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

Knudtson and his team studied the impact of exercise on 4,000 men and women in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin over 15 years. The volunteers were aged between 43 and 86 when the study started in 1988-1990.

They were questioned about how much exercise they did and assessed every five years. About 25 per cent had an active lifestyle and nearly the same number climbed more than six flights of stairs each day.

The researchers said they could not rule out other factors but added that the report "provides evidence that a modifiable behaviour, regular physical activity, such as walking, may have a protective effect for incident AMD."

Reuters