Breakfast important for children

When your child goes to school on an empty stomach, she’s losing up to a quarter of the daily recommended intake of critical vitamins and minerals.

This loss directly impacts energy levels, memory and focus. Studies show that children who start the day hungry score lower on achievement tests and have higher absentee rates than children who eat breakfast.

The second annual “Report Card on America’s Breakfast Habits,” conducted by national parent teacher organization PTO Today and The American Cereal Council, revealed that 30 percent of elementary school-age children are still going to school at least one day a week on an empty stomach––showing no improvement from last year’s Report Card.

In fact, 20 percent of elementary school-age children are now going to school without breakfast twice a week. This dangerous trend exists despite parents’ acknowledgment that starting the morning with breakfast is an important way to prepare kids to learn.

The Report Card did offer hope and easy solutions. Mothers noticed a positive impact on their children’s performance at school when they took the time to sit down with their children for breakfast. And the chance of children skipping breakfast when their mothers partook was reduced by two-thirds. The conclusion is that parents need to make the grade each morning as role models for their children.

Starting your child’s day off right is more than just making sure she has done her homework or has her lunch for the day. It starts in the morning around the breakfast table and is as easy as a bowl of cereal with milk.

Not only will you feel good about sending your child off with the most important meal of the day, but you know she will be ready mentally and physically throughout the day.

This story provided by North American Precis Syndicate.