QOTW: "The Importance of Breakfast?"
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QOTW: "The Importance of Breakfast?"
| Mon, 08-28-2006 - 8:47am |
Board Question Of The Week!
~The Importance of Breakfast~
I was wondering what your thoughts were on making sure your tween/teen has breakfast before leaving for school?
Studies have been done that prove you are able to concentrate and do better if a child eats breakfast before heading off to school!
So I am curious what your thoughts are?

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Both girls are miserable and do not function well if they are hungry.
Kelly
I absolutely agree that breakfast is very important! My friends used to roll their eyes at me because I refused to let my kids eat cereal on school days...but it you think about it, they're hungry way before lunch time!
Some usual breakfasts around here: half bagel toasted with peanut butter and a yogurt for my daughter, scrambled eggs with ham pieces in a flour tortilla (2) for my son, with glasses of either milk or orange juice. English muffin breakfast sandwiches, leftover pizza, or even a peanut butter sandwich if we're running late and they need something to carry out to the bus stop!
I figure they're gonna 'junk it out' at lunch time so it makes me feel better knowing I'm sending them off with a good start! By the way, my kids are super skinny and my son runs cross country, so they NEED the heavy calories anyway! :)
Denise
Well....guess I'm the odd ball here! LOL! I do believe breakfast is important, but I also believe that you don't have to have a meal fit for a king to get energized. Each person is different. I'm not a big breakfast person, but on occasion I like to have the traditional eggs and toast. DH likes to eat cakes and pastries and cookies for breakfast, so it's no surprise that we have one son very much like me and one like dh! LOL!
I let the kids eat what they want for breakfast and somehow on school days they seem to just know to eat appropriately. Matthew will eat granola bars, fig newtons, sometimes a scrambled egg and a piece of toast, sometimes oatmeal, sometimes cereal...whatever he wants. His teacher also has a mid morning snack time so he's got plenty of opportunity to fuel the brain cells. Brandon on the other hand likes to have a traditional breakfast, whether it's cereal, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, eggs bacon and toast, pop tarts, breakfast hot pockets..you name it. He's always been like that too. He's an early riser and loves a big meal. Just a side note as well, Matthew has always been an above average kid...so I don't think his morning eating habits inhibit him at all. Brandon is also an above average kid so....I'm not so big on all those studies that are done and change yearly!
So I am curious what your thoughts are?
So I am curious what your thoughts are? Do you make your tween/teen eat breakfast?
yes, breakfast is mandatory here.
DOes it have to be healthy or anything goes?
My boys aren't super hungry in the morning. I rarely buy poptarts/toaster strudel, etc but they can always have eggs, toast, pancakes, waffles, fruit, or cereal-hot or cold. Almost always they prefer just cold milk and cereal. sometimes a granola bar. I do not force a heavy or hot breakfast on them since they are not that hungry. I have stressed protein to keep full but they don't seem to like that in the morning and say they are o.k. until lunch. They both make excellent grades so I guess they are doing what they need for their bodies.
Does your tween/teens school have a breakfast program?
Yes.
Do they take advantage of it!
Sometimes my boys want to eat breakfast at school depending on what they are having (milk and cereal are always the B option). Mostly it is just a social thing for them, but if they want to I let them eat there.
Quinn is just like me when it comes to breakfast. He's not ready to eat unless he's been up for an hour or so. But if I was to wake him up an hour early on school days just to hang out until he felt eating, I would be waking him up around 5am. (Currently he gets up at 5:45 & takes a shower) To make him eat, I told him he can just eat & deal with it or I would wake him up at 5am. Either way, he is going to eat breakfast & a decent one.
He gets up at 5:45 & takes a shower while I cook him a little breakfast.
He's not a big milk & cereal eater. He likes his cereal dry right out of the box & doesn't drink plain milk. I can get him to stir in chocolate syurp into the milk sometimes. (He doesn't like store bought chocolate milk which is one of the weird things about him! How anyone cannot love Pet chocolate milk is beyond me.) So, cereal is not eaten at breakfast (he snacks on it).
He can't eat a whole lot of food in the morning. I forgo a healthy breakfast & try to make something that will stick with him until lunch time. Also, he has to have something with 'sticking power' because he takes Focalin. It works better & last longer. Generally I cook one of the following things on school mornings.
Cheddar cheese grits & either a link of sausage or strips of bacon (this mornings meal)
a couple of strips of bacon or sausage links & one egg over medium
one Nutrigrain waffle & 2 links of sausage
ham & cheese omlette (with 1 egg)
If we make blueberry pancakes or waffles over the weekend, I always make enough for him to have them for breakfast on Monday.
He generally washes it down with Cheerwine. (A soda found here in NC.) As long as he eats, I don't fuss about it. Plus he needs that little caffine kick. I figure than it's no worst than my cup (or 2 or 3) of coffee.
His school has a breakfast program & he could eat at school but it can get expensive. It cost almost as much as lunch ($1.75). I can cook cheaper than that. And they don't have too many choices from what I've heard. If he was to eat at school, I would have to send a total of $4 for each day & he would not get any extras.
BTW...he doesn't like toast or cheese toast. Which was one of my favorite things as a kid.
Edited 8/28/2006 9:59 am ET by onehappymama
My kids eat breakfast at school. I find that its really important for them to have this. Zack was really big on not doing it, but after having football practice in the morning, he realizes how hungry he really gets and how much more energy he has after having some. I know the school menus here and they are really healthy breakfasts being served there.
Breakfast is VERY important. However, I am not a big eater of breakfast and neither is my tween.
DH makes sure he eats something but it's never as hearty as his siblings. He will have a piece of toast and fruit. Or a waffle and juice. He takes a snack to school for morning recess though. On the weekend, we eat breakfast later than during the week (9:30ish) and he'll eat more. I think 7:30 is too early.
I buy waffles, frozen pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, PopTarts, yogurt, fresh fruit,Toaster Strudel....etc. They have a TON of options for breakfast. They prefer homemade breakfast- and DH will oblige when he's not busy in the morning.
Our school does not offer a breakfast program...even if they did, my kids are so picky they wouldn't participate.
Yes, Kayleigh is required to eat breakfast before she leaves for school and it needs to be a relatively healthy breakfast.
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