Table of contents:
- Why are there so many children who rarely eat breakfast?
- Benefits of breakfast for children's intelligence
- What is a good breakfast menu for children?
Rushing to school for fear of being late is the most common reason why children often skip breakfast every day. Even though breakfast is important, you know! Not only does it prevent children from starving, the benefits of breakfast can also increase children's concentration while at school. In fact, your child will grow up to be successful thanks to regular breakfast every morning.
Why are there so many children who rarely eat breakfast?
Reporting from Livestrong, about 8-12 percent of school-age children and 30 percent of teenagers in the world skip breakfast every morning. Meanwhile in Indonesia alone, 7 out of 10 children suffer from malnutrition at breakfast.
The reasons for children not having breakfast can vary. Starting from waking up late, the mother did not have time to prepare breakfast, was afraid of being late, to fear of being sleepy at school. Yes, many people think that breakfast can make children sleepy. He said, this could make children not focus on studying at school and reduce their performance.
Whereas what happened was the opposite. The benefits of breakfast not only provide additional energy for children to start the day, but also make children more enthusiastic and focus on learning in class.
Benefits of breakfast for children's intelligence
Like a car, breakfast acts as gasoline, aka fuel, which ensures optimal organ function. Not only does it take care of children's physical health, the benefits of breakfast can also make your little one more responsive in learning.
There have been many studies that prove that children who eat breakfast tend to focus more on learning than children who don't. The energy that comes from carbohydrate intake in the breakfast menu makes children more active in discussions, able to handle complex problems in class, and even get better grades. So according to dr. William Sears, a pediatrician from California, United States.
This was also agreed upon by Dr. dr. I Gusti Lanang Sidiartha, Sp. A (K), as a nutrition and metabolic consultant pediatrician, who was met by the Hello Sehat team in Sudirman, Central Jakarta on Thursday (21/2). Dr. Lanang, as he is familiarly called, has even proven it himself through research conducted on school children aged 6-9 years and over 9 years in Bali.
Dr. Lanang found that children who ate breakfast had 4 times higher academic scores than children who did not eat breakfast. This can be seen from the increased cognitive abilities of children, especially in terms of memory and the ability to pay attention to lessons in class.
"Judging from the test results of all subjects for one semester, children who routinely eat breakfast have a score above the average than children who don't eat breakfast," explained Dr. Lanang. This proves that the benefits of breakfast clearly make children excel at school.
On the same occasion, Dr. dr. Taufiq Pasiak, M. Kes, M.Pd, as a neuroanatomy and neuroscience expert, also supported the explanation. “The benefits of breakfast are not only making you smart, but also controlling your emotions to be more stable. However, this cannot be incidental (sudden), it must be sustainable. "Minimum 22 days (regular breakfast) so it can become a good habit for children," he explained.
This is also supported by a study in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience in 2013. In this study, it was stated that the benefits of breakfast can also improve the mental health of children.
What is a good breakfast menu for children?
To reap the maximum benefits of breakfast, pay attention to the food menu that you serve your little one. Make sure the food contains complete nutrition that is good for child development.
Children's breakfast menu must contain complete macro and micro nutrition. According to Dr. Lanang, the ideal breakfast menu for children consists of at least 4 components, namely carbohydrates, vegetable protein, animal protein, and fat.
When it comes to carbohydrates, you might think that there should be rice in a child's breakfast menu. In fact, you can also provide other sources of carbohydrates such as noodles, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread, and so on. However, it is also okay if you only want to provide rice as a source of carbohydrates for children.
It is different with protein, you are encouraged to provide various protein sources for children. For example, eggs, fish, meat, tofu, tempeh, or beans take turns.
"Of the four components, animal protein must always exist. This is because the macro and micro content tend to be complete. But if you can get more, the better, "said Dr. Lanang when asked about a good breakfast menu for children. So, even though you have provided tofu or tempeh as a source of vegetable protein, you must still provide eggs or meat to complement the nutritional needs of children.
Well, there is no doubt that the benefits of breakfast can improve children's brain performance while learning. Therefore, let's get used to the kids to have breakfast from now on!
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