The best breakfast foods
CARBOHYDRATES
Sugary Cereals - Beware of ‘children’s’ cereals that have a high sugar content. Some manufacturers try to conceal this by putting sugar further down the list by disguising it under different names. So watch out for words like Glucose, Fructose, Sucrose, Maltose and Dextrose. Some children’s cereals are between one third and one half sugar – if your child ate any of these cereals for one week he would be consuming 22 teaspoons of sugar.
Always read labels carefully and check that the cereal contains less than 10g of sugar and less than 0.5g of salt per 100g.
Your child needs energy and concentration until lunch and the best way to deliver a steady supply of sugar to the brain is to give complex carbohydrates like porridge, Shredded Wheat, Weetabix, Muesli or Cheerios. Wholegrain cereals release their sugar slowly avoiding the highs ad lows of sugary refined cereals.
Seeds like sunflower or pumpkin seeds contain important nutrients like essential fatty acids so it’s good if you can sprinkle some onto your child’s cereal or add them to your own home made granola (see my video).
Toast is also good for breakfast – wholemeal, brown, Best of Both (white bread with added wheatgerm) or white. Grilled cheese on toast is good or peanut butter with sliced banana are good. Eggy bread is also popular.
DAIRY PRODUCE & EGGS
Give milk, yoghurt or cheese to make sure your child gets the calcium he needs to build strong bones and teeth. Choose whole milk rather than low fat varieties of dairy products unless your child is overweight as he will need the calories to fuel his growth. Eggs are rich in protein, iron, zinc and vitamins and scrambled, poached, boiled eggs, eggy bread are good for breakfast. Boiled eggs with soldiers is popular and you can add extras to scrambled eggs like chopped tomatoes, grated cheese or ham.
FRUIT
Ideally children should eat or drink some fruit that is rich in vitamin C as breakfast cereals are a good source of iron but we cannot absorb it unless we have vitamin C at the same meal e.g. a glass of orange juice or a bowl of berry fruits. If your child doesn’t have much time for breakfast giving a smoothie to drink on his journey may be the answer. You can also make fruity muffins like my Apple and Carrot muffins. Watch how I make these muffins on my new
‘how to cook’ videos.
Featured Breakfast Recipe
Breakfast Recipe
It is easy to skip breakfast if you are in a hurry, but here are some portable options, which can be eaten on the go. Pack a wet wipe to clean up sticky fingers!
