Ideal breakfast for children
A lukewarm cup of tea with a slice of bread is often what we send our children off to school on. What a pity, since children’s performance is directly related to the quality of breakfast they eat, as numerous studies over the decades have shown.
By Christine Kintu
A lukewarm cup of tea with a slice of bread is often what we send our children off to school on. What a pity, since children’s performance is directly related to the quality of breakfast they eat, as numerous studies over the decades have shown.
“Children need an energiser to see them through their morning and this can be got from a balanced breakfast.
Those who do not have breakfast in most cases lose their concentration in class and may dose off,†says Nelly Birungi, a nutritionist at Mulago Hospital’s Mwana Mujimu department. “Learning is an energy-demanding process because it involves thinking, reading, writing and general participation in class,†she adds. Birungi advises that every child should have breakfast between 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning.
Dr. Elizabeth Kiboneka, the director of Mwana Mugimu, says it does not call for expensive foods for one to be healthy.
“You can as well have some of the potato and groundnut soup left over from the night before,†she says.
For breakfast, a child can have either maize, soya or millet porridge. They are energy rich and primarily carbohydrate. The porridge meal can be enriched with milk and an egg plus a fruit. This then makes it a fully balanced diet.
Milk and a light breakfast cereal, for example weetabix or cornflakes, for those who can afford them, is a great idea. Oats too are rich in carbohydrates. Alternate the child’s foods to avoid monotony.
Accompany all meals with a fruit like a tomato, avocado, banana, pineapple, passion fruit or a slice of watermelon. Eat fresh fruits as they are more nutritious.
“High sugar foods like cakes, cookies and soda as well as snacks like crisps are not good for breakfast,†Birungi cautions.
Food is fuel for the body. Send your child off to school on a full tank.
A lukewarm cup of tea with a slice of bread is often what we send our children off to school on. What a pity, since children’s performance is directly related to the quality of breakfast they eat, as numerous studies over the decades have shown.
“Children need an energiser to see them through their morning and this can be got from a balanced breakfast.
Those who do not have breakfast in most cases lose their concentration in class and may dose off,†says Nelly Birungi, a nutritionist at Mulago Hospital’s Mwana Mujimu department. “Learning is an energy-demanding process because it involves thinking, reading, writing and general participation in class,†she adds. Birungi advises that every child should have breakfast between 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning.
Dr. Elizabeth Kiboneka, the director of Mwana Mugimu, says it does not call for expensive foods for one to be healthy.
“You can as well have some of the potato and groundnut soup left over from the night before,†she says.
For breakfast, a child can have either maize, soya or millet porridge. They are energy rich and primarily carbohydrate. The porridge meal can be enriched with milk and an egg plus a fruit. This then makes it a fully balanced diet.
Milk and a light breakfast cereal, for example weetabix or cornflakes, for those who can afford them, is a great idea. Oats too are rich in carbohydrates. Alternate the child’s foods to avoid monotony.
Accompany all meals with a fruit like a tomato, avocado, banana, pineapple, passion fruit or a slice of watermelon. Eat fresh fruits as they are more nutritious.
“High sugar foods like cakes, cookies and soda as well as snacks like crisps are not good for breakfast,†Birungi cautions.
Food is fuel for the body. Send your child off to school on a full tank.