Raising Children Network: the Australian parenting website
  • Suitable for 3-8Years

What about breakfast?

By Raising Children Network
 
 

Human bodies make energy from carbohydrates, breaking them down into glucose. After a night without food, your body has started using stores of energy from your muscles – glycogen and fatty acids. Your body needs a top-up before you tackle the tasks of the day.

Eating breakfast gives your child more energy to get through the day. It also gets her metabolism started, helping her to use food more efficiently.

Without breakfast, your child may:

  • have trouble concentrating and learning
  • run out of energy
  • eat high-fat, high-sugar foods for the rest of the day because she is hungry and tired
  • need lots of snacks.

Research has found that children who skip breakfast tend to be heavier than those who don't, despite eating less food overall. This may be because without breakfast, hungry children eat more during the rest of the day.

Breakfast can be one of the most rushed, hassle-filled times of the day, so it’s no wonder so many families skip eating just so they can get out the door. Storing a few simple ingredients in the cupboard or fridge can help you prepare quick breakfasts for you and your children. Toast, yoghurt, cereal and fresh fruit are all relatively quick and easy to prepare.

 
  • Last reviewed16-05-2006
  • ReferencesTaras, H. (2005). Nutrition and student performance at school. Journal of School Health, 75(6), 199-213.