As the summer heat slowly sets and gives way to the cool rain, millions of children are also heading back to school. And other than the new books and school supplies, it is also important to prepare your kitchen with new and nutritious food to facilitate both mental and physical development of your children.
Researches show that eating a healthy diet is one of the keys to a child’s growth and development, school performance, and overall health. Here are some back to school nutrition tips to keep your kids healthy and active in school.
- Don’t ever skip breakfast
- Make bite size foods.
- Focus on quality Carbohydrates
Being the most important meal of the day, eating a full and balanced meal during breakfast fosters improved cognitive performance, increased concentration, and weight maintenance among school children.
Having a hard time making your kids eat vegetables and fruits? Make bite size foods. Studies show kids are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables when they are sliced in bite sizes. Food wastage would also be lessened when food is being made into smaller sizes rather than serving food as a whole inside the lunch box.
When preparing meals for your kids make sure to include good sources of carbohydrates specifically complex carbohydrates like wheat breads, root crops, corn, and alike instead of giving sugary treats like donuts, cakes, etc. Complex carbohydrates contain high fiber which is good for the intestinal gut and provide steady supply of energy for the brain, thus facilitate learning.
- Keep your kids hydrated all the time
- Discourage eating street foods.
Keeping your kids hydrated is very important since this will prevent them from becoming over fatigued and keeping them concentrated while in school. Avoid giving sugary drinks like sodas, artificial juices etc. instead provide them with water or freshly squeezed fruit juices.
Eating in sidewalks possess a great threat to food safety especially to children. Aside from unsanitary practices in food preparation, street foods are often high in fat and sugar which may increase children’s chances of getting hypertension and diabetes at a very young age.//RPOP
