Proper nutrition provides fuel for children's growing minds as well as their bodies. Skipping meals, particularly breakfast, may hurt children's attention spans and cognitive functions in the short term. Furthermore, inadequate nutrition in early development may have long-term effects on children's brains. Providing children with healthy, balanced meals can help them stay focused and sharp.
Significance of Breakfast
Research shows that children who consistently eat breakfast are more likely to have good nutritional profiles and healthy weight than those who skip breakfast, according to the American Dietetic Association. Eating breakfast may also improve children's hand-eye coordination, creativity and problem-solving skills, and help them to concentrate better, remain alert, miss fewer days of school and be more physically active.
Components of a Healthy Breakfast
A healthy breakfast should include whole grains, low-fat dairy, fruits or vegetables and a low-fat protein source, notes MayoClinic.com. These four components provide complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber and protein, allowing children to stay full, focused and energetic throughout the morning. For example, a healthy breakfast might include whole-grain toast or waffles served with peanut butter, banana and a glass of skim milk, or an omelet with low-fat cheese and spinach and a low-fat bran muffin.
Nutritional Deficits in Infancy
Nutritional deficits in infancy, such as inadequate food or inability to absorb nutrients, may have a long-term impact on attention and language processing. A study by psychophysiologists at Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center found that 8- to 15-year-old children who had been diagnosed with growth retardation before age 3 had more trouble with reading, spelling, math and language processing than children in the control group. The psychophysiologists responsible for this study concluded that nutritional problems in early development may have negative effects on the frontal lobe, an area of the brain that controls reasoning, planning, speech and social judgment.
Food and ADHD Symptoms
Research shows that artificial food colorings, refined sugars and other food additives may cause increased hyperactive behavior in children, according to the Brooklyn College Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences. Children with hyperactivity disorders have more trouble focusing in school. Food allergies and fatty acid deficiencies have also been linked to ADHD. Identifying and treating such problems, as well as avoiding food additives, may reduce ADHD symptoms and improve children's performance in school.
References
- Journal of the American Dietetic Association: Breakfast Habits, Nutritional Status, Body Weight, and Academic Performance in Children and Adolescents
- MayoClinic.com: Healthy Breakfast
- Prescrire International: Artificial Food Colouring and Hyperactivity Symptoms in Children
- Assocation for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback: Nutrition in the Treatment of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- USDA: Nutrition's Role in Feeding Children's Brains
