Breakfast: Key to Growing Healthy

Breakfast is an important meal for growing children. Studies show that breakfast eaters tend to have higher school attendance, less tardiness and fewer hunger-induced stomach aches in the morning. Their overall test scores are higher, they concentrate better, solve problems more easily and have better muscle coordination. Children who eat breakfast also are more likely to maintain a healthy weight and get enough calcium, too. Whether your children eat at home or at school, be sure they eat a nutritious breakfast every day.

Make a Breakfast Bar

Let your kids build their own breakfast with a breakfast bar. Similar to a salad bar, a breakfast bar includes a variety of foods to mix and match. Little ones love to create unusual combinations by mixing, stacking and organizing ingredients. Will peanut butter glue the berries to a waffle? Or will yogurt smother nuts and fruit? No matter what nutritious combinations they create, they will love the sense of control a breakfast bar offers. Here are some ideas.

Whole-grain cereals, waffles, tortillas, bread or English muffins
Peanut butter
Low-fat or fat-free yogurt
Cottage cheese
Variety of sliced fruit such as bananas or strawberries
Cooked apples or fruit compote
Cheese slices
Chopped nuts
Raisins and dried cranberries
Low-fat or fat-free milk
Hard-boiled eggs
Jazz Up Cooked Cereal

For a great grain-filled breakfast, add flavor and nutrition to cooked cereals (instant or not), such as oatmeal, cream of wheat, grits, brown rice or whole-grain couscous.

Use fruit juice — apple, orange or other 100-percent juice — or low-fat or fat-free milk as the cooking liquid.
For cooked cereal, stir in grated cheese, chopped fruit (apple, peach, banana, kiwifruit), dried fruit (chopped apricots, papaya, dates, raisins, cranberries) or nuts and seeds.
Add dry milk powder to cooked cereal to boost calcium.
Liven it up with spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice or cloves.

If you want to learn more about kidney disease, please click here, Beijing kidney hospital for you