Eating a good breakfast boosts chances for school success

William Nichols - Writer

Katherine French – Mercer County Extension Educator

Your mother was right -- breakfast is the most important meal of the day, according to an expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

Eating breakfast improves concentration, memory and problem-solving ability, said Katherine French, registered dietitian and extension educator in Mercer County. "Eating breakfast improves the brain's ability to function and gives you the energy to get you going and keep you going throughout the day."

This is especially important for school-age children because those who eat breakfast are more alert, less irritable, participate more fully in learning activities and have better behavior, noted French. "These kids have longer attention spans, get better test scores and are tardy and absent less often," she said. "Breakfast-eaters even make fewer visits to the school nurse."

Since breakfast-skippers consume more calories and fat later in the day than breakfast-eaters, researchers suggest that eating a nutritious breakfast helps to control body weight.

Despite the advantages of eating breakfast, some children (and adults) choose not to. They believe they don't have time, aren't hungry or just don't like breakfast foods. "But when it comes to kids not eating breakfast, the main reason they may not eat is that there may not be a parent or caregiver around at breakfast time," French said. "They need encouragement to eat and to help them to put together a quick, easy breakfast."

To encourage breakfast-time consumption, French suggested having quickly accessible breakfast items, such as ready-to-eat cereals, instant oatmeal, fresh fruits or juices, mini-bagels, muffins, toast, yogurt, string cheese and milk. "Set the breakfast table the night before," French urged. "For children, just seeing the bowl, spoon and box of cereal on the table is a good cue that they will be eating breakfast."

Read the entire article  http://live.psu.edu/story/47703/rss69.

 

Street Corners Markets —Drugs, Gangs, and Obesity!

We all know the dangers of drugs and gangs facing our children at the nearest street corners. But what most parents don't realize is that corner market may also be endangering the health our children. Leading obesity researchers across the nation consider "food environment" a major contributing factor of the obesity epidemic. A recent research study at Temple University in Philadelphia found that adolescents are consuming large quantities of calories through snacks purchased from their local corner market. More than 50 percent of the kids from this study said they shopped at corner stores once a day, five days a week. Nearly 30 percent visited the stores twice a day -- before and after school. For the full articles on the study: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2009-0964v1

In most urban to suburban areas, corner markets or convenience stores are abundant making them very accessible for youth while walking to and from school. For little over a dollar an adolescent can choose from an assortment of snacks, but few are aware of the possible 350 calorie price tag. What can be done? The following are suggestions to change present patterns and possibly slow growing obesity rates.

In The Home:

• Being a healthy role model.
• Pack snack from home.
• Teach adolescents to read nutritional facts labels.
• Serve them a healthy choice food before going to school.
• Promote healthier choices like milk, water, and fruits and vegetables.

In The Community:

• Endorse school's wellness policy at home.
• Support healthy alternatives for school activities.
• Promote healthy snacks for intramural sport leagues.
• Request healthier options at the local market.
• Contract other interested parents to get involved.

There is no magic to prevent obesity. But through developing healthy lifestyle goals for family and community partners, we can set a new direction. Start with small changes to yield long term results to improve the quantity and quality of children's food intake and to build new habits and lower the obesity risk. For more on healthy choices check out http://www.mypyramid.gov/kids/index.html

To Reward or Not to Reward?

Pretty soon the report cards will be coming home from school. Parents respond in a number of ways ranging from big rewards for terrific grades to loss of privileges for less than desirable grades. I have often overheard some of my children’s friends share stories about “what they got” for their report cards. My own children would inevitably ask, “Why don’t I get anything for my report card?” And I would have to explain in kid-terms why I did not care to indulge them for good grades. In trying to make the concept of “intrinsic rewards” sound child-friendly, I simply said that the feeling you have inside when you accomplish something is your reward. Children wrinkle their noses in confusion at this explanation, and parents often wonder if they did the right thing. If our job as parents is to prepare our children to be successful in the real world, are we doing them any favors by giving them prizes for doing their work? The reality is that this is not the way the world operates. Rather than giving children tangible rewards or buckets of praise, it is recommended that parents encourage their children with words such as “You can feel really good about getting a ‘B’ in such a tough course!”, or “You worked hard this semester!”. Even a low grade can be recognized as an accomplishment if the child studied and did her homework but still found taking tests difficult. Such feedback instills in a child a positive sense of self and a can-do attitude. They also learn to rely on themselves for rewards. That good feeling comes from inside, thus, it is intrinsic. If the response to good performance always comes from outside, then it is extrinsic. That can only happen as long as someone is around to take notice and dole out rewards. Intrinsic rewards are never too far away. They are also very inexpensive! Some parents like to set goals with their children for the next marking period. For example, parents can ask their child what she would like to improve upon for the next report card. If that goal is then met, parents can recognize the accomplishment with their child, preferably without giving a reward. If it is not achieved, the parent can ask the child what they think happened and what they think they can do to bring the grade up next time. I would love to hear some conversation about this topic! Parents, please weigh in and share your thoughts. Tell us what you do at report card time and what works in your homes!