Skipping breakfast impairs a child's ability to learn and function well in school. Children who eat a complete breakfast work faster in math, make fewer mistakes, have improved cognitive speed and memory and perform better on vocabulary tests, reports the Food Research & Action Center. Not all breakfasts are created equal. Certain breakfast foods better prepare children to deal with the challenges of their school day.
Proteins
Proteins elongate digestion time and stabilize blood sugar, enhancing children's energy and concentration. Proteins are particularly important in the morning. Each day, your child faces a 3 to 4 hour morning of demanding cognitive tasks at school. Unless your child eats in the middle of the night, he has just completed a fast for 8 to 10 hours. His body's reserves of working fuel and raw material for the day have been depleted. He needs his morning protein. Examples of breakfast foods that contain protein include meats, nuts, yogurt, cheese, milk and eggs.
Complex Carbohydrates
Like proteins, complex carbohydrates improve metabolic regulation and stabilize blood sugars. While proteins are necessary for the creation of brain chemicals that improve concentration, complex carbohydrates provide a stable supply of blood glucose, which is necessary for moving these chemicals into the brain. Breakfast foods that have complex carbohydrates include fresh fruit and whole-grain food such as whole-grain bread or whole-wheat pancakes. Whole-wheat breakfast cereals also provide complex carbohydrates. Read the box labels to find those with the most fiber.
Killer Combos
Combine complex carbohydrates with protein to optimize your child's mental functioning. For example, fresh fruit in yogurt, peanut butter on celery, eggs and whole-wheat toast, fruit and whole-wheat cereal, peanut butter and banana on whole-wheat bread, a veggie omelet with a bran muffin, tuna on toast and whole-grain pancakes topped with fruit all exemplify killer combos that provide the nutrients necessary to keep your child energized yet calm throughout the morning.
Simple Carbohydrates
Simple carbohydrates, such as sugary cereal, jam and white bread, digest quickly and release a surge of glucose into the blood. This provides a quick burst of energy but also tends to cause a surge in the release of insulin, which breaks down the sugar, storing it as fat for later potential use. The rush of insulin lowers blood sugar, which hampers the transportation of neurotransmitters into the brain. In some children, such as children with hyperactivity, the insulin surge causes a cascade of hormones including stress hormones such as epinephrine and cortisol. These stress hormones can trigger hyperactivity and anxiety. Hence, for many kids, consuming sugar and other simple carbohydrates causes a brief rush followed by a crash in energy. Remove sugary and sweet food items from the breakfast menu, including sweetened cereal, breakfast rolls and donuts.
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