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Start your children's day out right; give them breakfast
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Start your morning out right with a healthy breakfast.
When parents become dependent on the schools for the basic necessities of their child, it makes me wonder if the schools are the ones raising our children. Schools began feeding low income children breakfast in 1966, with the creation of the School Breakfast Program created by Congress. Parents and schools have expanded this program to include anyone that needs it, including those children that can afford it but their parents think it is easier to just send them to school to eat breakfast. Isn’t it our responsibility as a parent to see that our children are fed? Do parents not realize that the more you allow government to intervine, the more control they have over not only you, but how you raise your children?
I agree that children need breakfast, and a healthy breakfast will help begin their day the right way. According to the American Dietic Association, 40 percent of girls and 32 percent of boys skip breakfast regularly. Where are their parents? Do they even realize what is going on in their child’s lives?
One study that was conducted by the State of Minnesota illustrated that “children who eat breakfast before going to school perform better in math and reading, increase their attention span and improve their overall behavior.” I can understand why schools want to feed the children; the schools benefit by keeping up their scores, the possibility of better behavior in the classroom for the teachers, and children that might actually be more attentive to learning. On the other hand, as a tax payer and a parent, I wonder why the responsibility lies upon the schools and not the parents.
With the amount of choices we have today, there are no excuses for our children to miss breakfast on a regular basis. If they overslept, get them an alarm (Good Will has them for a dollar or two) and set it for 10-20 minutes earlier than normal. They don’t like breakfast; give them a healthy alternative to traditional breakfast foods. It doesn’t have to be a breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, etc. After all, bacon and other common breakfast foods aren’t the healthiest choices. If you don’t have time to fix a big breakfast, yogurt or fruit works for even the younger children with little to no supervision from you. With a little supervision for the young, a bowl of high fiber, whole grain, or oatmeal cereal works well. Have a little extra time in the evening, make some muffins made with flax seed or fresh fruit. If you are running behind, have your child grab a breakfast bar to eat at the bus stop. If your older child is not wanting to eat something too filling in the morning, how about a quick fruit smoothie. There are countless choices to help begin your day the right way. You just need to be a little creative. Better yet, sit down and eat breakfast with your child so that you can spend quality time with your child and providing them with good nutrition too.
As parents, we shouldn’t continue to rely on schools to raise our children. We need to start taking responsibility for our own children. This means providing them with their basic needs, and contrary to some beliefs, giving them an opportunity for a healthy breakfast is one of them. Since studies have shown that eating a healthy breakfast decreases absenteeism, tardiness, and behaviour problems, while increasing test scores, this small step will give your children a larger opportunity at life.
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