Breakfast, why does it matter?

In the rush of getting ready for school, it’s all too easy to skimp on eating breakfast and preparing lunch.Yet studies on school children have shown that eating breakfast improves memory, problem-solving abilities, accuracy in maths tests and creative thinking. It can also provide up to 20% of a child’s daily intake of energy, vitamins and minerals needed for growth. Think twice before letting your child go to school on an empty stomach.

Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day because it “breaks” the overnight “fast”. For children and adults eating breakfast can help to reduce the likelihood of obesity by preventing hunger and overeating later in the day. Breakfast is an important source of energy, calcium, B vitamins and iron.  

Excuses such as lack of time, not hungry, breakfast is boring, too tired, can all be overcome with some of these simple ideas:

Breakfast in a bowl

• Breakfast cereal, chopped fruit and milk in a bowl
• Yogurt with chopped or stewed fruit
• Porridge with milk and dried/fresh fruit
• Rice porridge with meat or chicken and vegetables
• Moisten muesli with milk or juice, leave in fridge overnight and add yoghurt before serving.

Breakfast on the go

• Toasted fruit bread or fruit muffin
• Rice cakes with peanut butter and banana
• Wrap a banana in wholemeal bread or fruit bread
• Breakfast bars with fresh fruit
• Peanut butter on wholemeal or multigrain bread

Breakfast in a flash

• Tub of yogurt and a piece of fruit
• Wheat flake breakfast biscuits with sliced banana
• Fruit smoothies: just blend milk with fresh, tinned or dried fruit. Try banana or strawberries
• Flavoured milk or breakfast drinks
• Yoghurt drinks
• Fruit lassies: blend yoghurt and fresh fruit or fruit juice such as mango, rockmelon, berries, bananas, apricot.

Hot breakfast

• Baked beans on wholemeal or multigrain toast
• Scrambled eggs on toast or crumpet
• Boiled or poached eggs and cooked tomatoes on toast
• Pizza muffins: top muffins with tomato paste, tomato slices, capsicum strips, grated carrot, pineapple and cheese. Grill or bake
• Toasted sandwiches/jaffles made with ham, pineapple and tomato, baked beans or tinned spaghetti
• Vegetable or fruit pikelets or muffins
• Pancakes with fruit and yoghurt or vegies and cheese

To add variety and fun to breakfast why not try these healthy recipes when you have more time, such as weekends and holidays.

Super-yummy toasted muesli

½ cup dates or dried apricots
2 cups rolled oats
1cup wheat germ
½ cup shredded coconut
¾ cup sultana’s
½ cup sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 large orange (or ½ cup orange juice)

• Turn oven on 160 C. 
• Chop dates into small pieces. 
• Put all ingredients except orange into bowl. Stir well.
• Squeeze the orange. Add ½ cup of juice to muesli mixture and mix well. 
• Spread muesli onto a baking tray and cook for 30 minutes until browned.  Allow to cool.
• Keeps in an airtight container.
• Serve with chilled milk and for extra hungry people add chopped fresh fruit or yoghurt.

Vegie pikelets

1 small zucchini
1 carrot, washed
1 orange (or 1 tablespoon of orange juice)
½ cup SR wholemeal flour
½ cup SR flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 egg
¾ cup low fat milk
½ teaspoon margarine

• Squeeze juice from orange.
• Grate zucchini, and the carrot and place in saucepan. 
• Add juice and stir on medium heat until soft (about 3 minutes). 
• Sift flour into a bowl. 
• Add sugar, egg and milk to make a batter. 
• Mix in cooked vegetables.
• Heat frypan, add margarine and cook tablespoons of mixture in frypan.  Cook until bubbles appear.
• Turn over and brown other side. 
• Makes 18 pikelets. 
• For a change try adding different vegetables such as pumpkin, capsicum, tomato, mushroom and potato.

Extract from ‘Start Them Right…A Parents Guide To Healthy Eating For Under Fives’. Produced by Child Health Association, Community Nutrition Unit, Department of Health and Human Services, Lady Gowrie Tasmania and Playgroup Association of Tasmania. 

‘Start Them Right … a Parents’ Guide to Healthy Eating for under Fives’ contains information on lunch and snack ideas, takeaways and packaged foods, as well as hints on fussy eating and how much your child should be eating. Phone 1300 13 55 13 or download from the website. 

Recipes from Kids in the Kitchen cookbook, Health Department of Western Australia, 1998

BOOK

The Ultimate Diabetes Cookbook by Virginia Hill and Lorna Garden, Lothian, 2002

A comprehensive cookbook for people with diabetes and for those who want a healthy, appetising guide to simple and innovative cooking. It contains essential health, lifestyle and dietary advice for people newly diagnosed, or with long-term diabetes.

Recipes are easy to prepare and contain creative ideas for weight control and good health. Each recipe is also nutritionally rated for people with diabetes and contains at-a-glace energy, fat, carbohydrate and fibre ratings.

The following recipes are taken from the section entitled “Breakfast Ideas”:

Fruity Porridge

Serves 2
Making microwave porridge is quick, with minimal clean-up.  Serve the porridge swamped with low-fat milk and sprinkled with cinnamon.

¾ cup rolled oats
1 ½ cups water
2 tbsp mixed dried fruit
Cinnamon to taste
1 cup low-fat milk, warm

MICROWAVE

• Combine the oats, water and dried fruit in a 1-litre microwave-safe glass jug.
• Cover with vented plastic wrap, and cook on HIGH (100%) for 2 ½ minutes.
• Stir, recover, and cook for a further 2 ½ minutes.
• Serve with warm low-fat milk and sprinkle with cinnamon.

CONVENTIONAL

• Combine the oats, water and dried fruit in a pan.
• Slowly bring to the boil, and cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring often.
• Serve with warm low-fat milk and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Variation

Add 4 finely chopped apricots and ½ tsp grated orange rind to a bowl of plain porridge.
Hint: Oats have a very low glycaemic index, which makes them a great food for people with diabetes.

Nutritional information

Per serve
KJ: 930
KCal: 225
Carbohydrate: High (More than 25g)
Fat: Low (5-10g)
Sodium: Low (Less than 200mg)
Fibre: Moderate (2-5g)
Good source: calcium

Banana Shake

Serves 1
Serve this drink dusted with some grated nuts, for a breakfast on the run.

1 ripe banana, sliced
1 cup low-fat milk
2 tbsp low-fat yoghurt
1-2 tsp sugar or sugar substitute (optional)
1 tbsp rice bran
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp grated nuts (pecans or hazelnuts)

CONVENTIONAL

• Place all the ingredients, except the nuts, in a blender, and mix until smooth.
• Pour into a glass, and sprinkle with the grated nuts.

Variation
When in season, use pureed mango in place of banana.

Nutritional information

KJ: 1560
KCal: 370
Carbohydrate: High (more than 25g)
Fat: Low (5-10g)
Sodium: Low (less than 200mg)
Fibre: High (more than 5g)
Good source: calcium

Recipes taken with permission from The Ultimate Diabetes Cookbook by Virginia Hill and Lorna Garden. Published by Lothian Books. Available from Diabetes Australia.  Call 1300 136 588 or visit Diabetes Australia to order.

This article was first published in Australian Family Magazine, July 2003. Updated July 2009.