Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian with Hy-Vee in Springfield, Illinois, and a spokesperson for the Illinois Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. For comments or questions, contact her at charfarg@aol.com or follow her on Twitter @NutritionRD.
Whether or not your child eats before school makes a big difference in how he or she does in school, a new study finds.
Researchers at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom found a direct, positive link between students' breakfast quality and consumption and their school progress. The findings were published in the UK's Journal of Public Health Nutrition. The study is thought to be the largest to date looking at standardized school performance.
Researchers studied 5,000 9 to 11-year-olds from more than 100 primary schools. They found that children who ate breakfast, and who ate a better quality breakfast, achieved higher academic outcomes. Researchers also found that the odds of achieving an above average educational performance were up to twice as high for pupils who ate breakfast, compared with those who did not.
And what was eaten made a big difference as well. Eating high-sugar, high-fat items, like sweets and crisps for breakfast, which was reported by 1 in 5 children, had no positive impact on educational attainment.
Students were asked to list all food and drink consumed over a period of just over 24 hours (including two breakfasts), noting what they consumed at specific times throughout the previous day, and for breakfast on the day of reporting. Alongside a number of healthy breakfast items consumed for breakfast, other dietary behaviors - including number of sweets and crisps and fruit and vegetable portions consumed throughout the rest of the day -- were all significantly and positively associated with educational performance.
"While breakfast consumption has been consistently associated with general health outcomes and acute measures of concentration and cognitive function, evidence regarding links to concrete educational outcomes has until now been unclear," said Hannah Littlecott from Cardiff University's Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement, lead author of the study. "This study therefore offers the strongest evidence yet of links between aspects of what pupils eat and how well they do at school, which has significant implications for education and public health policy."
What should you feed your child before he or she heads for school? Try to include a protein and a carbohydrate, such as a smoothie based on Greek yogurt or milk and frozen fruit, lower-sugar cereal and milk, eggs and whole-wheat toast, peanut butter and whole-wheat toast or oatmeal made with milk. Even nontraditional breakfast foods can make a healthy breakfast such as a turkey sandwich on whole-wheat bread or a slice of veggie pizza on a whole grain crust.
Q and A
Q: I know I should be more physically active, but I just don't have the energy. What can I do?
A: It's ironic: Once you get more physically active, increased fitness and improved sleep will leave you feeling more energetic. It's getting started that's the challenge. Have you tried to exercise too hard or too long, too quickly? Most experts encourage people to start slowly. If you are currently sedentary, you might want to start with 10 or 15 minutes at a time. Move at a speed and intensity that leave you energized, not exhausted, when you're done. Then gradually increase your time or speed a little each week.
In a study of over 400 overweight, sedentary older women, even 25 minutes of moderately paced walking three days a week was enough to significantly boost feelings of energy; energy increased even more in those who walked for an hour three times a week. If you find that a short walk does increase your energy, remind yourself of that each time you find yourself resisting an exercise appointment. Aim to walk just for 10 minutes; if you stop after that, you've still gotten some benefit. It may be that once you've walked 10 minutes, you'll be energized enough to walk another 10. Make sure your lack of energy doesn't reflect eating too few calories -- either in total for the day or in the hours before your activity. Increasing activity doesn't mean you can eat unlimited calories, but don't let weight-loss goals push you to cut calories so much that you have no energy.
If your meals or snacks consist mostly of sweets or refined grains that give you a short-lived rise in blood sugar followed by a crash, then that could also explain your lack of energy. See if you feel like walking more after a balanced meal that includes vegetables and/or fruit, whole grains, and beans, poultry or other lean protein. Finally, if you're chronically low on energy, talk with your doctor since this can be a sign of anemia, a thyroid disorder, a medication side effect or another treatable health problem.
Information courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research.
Recipe
Brussels sprouts are all the rage these days -- full of antioxidants, flavorful and trendy. Here's a recipe for garlic-Parmesan roasted Brussels sprouts from Eating Well magazine that takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish.
GARLIC-PARMESAN ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
1 small lemon, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/3 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss Brussels sprouts, lemon, garlic, oil, thyme, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Divide between 2 large rimmed baking sheets and spread in an even layer. Roast without stirring for 10 minutes. Rotate pans and continue roasting, without stirring, for 8 to 10 minutes more. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with Parmesan and pine nuts. Serves 6: 1 cup each.
Per serving: 204 calories, 14 g carbohydrate, 7 g protein, 15 g fat, 3 mg cholesterol, 5 g fiber, 304 mg sodium.
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