Nutrition News

Kellogg's Nutrition - Get a Taste for the Healthy Life™

Keep Kids On Board With Breakfast

You probably don't need convincing that a nutritious breakfast is great for kids. Compared to breakfast-skippers, kids who eat breakfast:

  • Get more fiber, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, zinc and iron in their diets.1
  • Make better food choices throughout the day and are more physically active.2,3
  • Get fuel for school.
  • Have healthier body weights and blood cholesterol levels.4,5,6,7

The real challenge might be getting your kids to eat a nutritious breakfast each morning. In fact, research shows that kids tend to eat breakfast less often as they get older, especially in the teen years.8

Fortunately, you can help make breakfast a lifelong habit for your kids. Try these tips:

  1. Convene a planning team. Kids might be more likely to eat breakfast when they help plan it. Sit down together to map out a week's worth of breakfasts (it's okay to repeat!). Let them pick from nutritious offerings such as Kellogg's® cereals, whole-wheat toast or toaster waffles, fat-free milk or yogurt, peanut butter, fruit or 100% fruit juice.
    • Need ideas? Download our Breakfast Table of tasty options. Each one features foods from at least three MyPyramid food groups. Have kids circle their favorites for the week.
  2. Assign breakfast tasks. Helping to prepare breakfast gives kids "ownership" of their meal, which encourages them to eat it. Even little kids can do simple tasks like setting the table, pouring cereal into bowls or packing breakfast items like cereal bars and fruit into brown bags to eat later.
  3. Be a breakfast role model. Make sure you eat a nutritious breakfast each morning. Remember, your kids are watching and love to imitate you!
  4. Breakfast together. Even if it's only on weekends, eat breakfast together to enjoy some "catch-up" time. You might be instilling healthy habits, too. Teens that eat with their families are likelier to do things like eat breakfast, eat more fruits and veggies and drink fewer soft drinks when they get older.9

References:
1. Rampersaud GC, Pereira MA, Girard BL, Adams J, Metzl JD. Breakfast habits, nutritional status, body weight, and academic performance in children and adolescents. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105:743-760.
2. Cohen B, Evers S, Manske S, et al. Smoking, physical activity and breakfast consumption among secondary school students in a Southwestern Ontario community. Can J Pub Health. 2003. 94(1):41-44.
3. Keski-Rahkonen A, Kaprio J, Rissanen A, et al. Breakfast skipping and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents and adults. Eur J Clin Nutr, 2003;57:842-853.
4. Albertson AM, Franko DL, Thompson D, Eldridge AL, Holschuh N, Affenito SG, Bauserman R, Striegel-Moore RH. Longitudinal patterns of breakfast eating in black and white adolescent girls. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007;15:2282-2292.
5. Timlin MT, Pereira MA, Story M, Neumark-Sztainer D. Breakfast eating and weight change in a 5-year prospective analysis of adolescents: Project EAT (Eating Among Teens). Pediatrics. 2008;121:e638-e645.
6. Resnicow K. The relationship between breakfast habits and plasma cholesterol in schoolchildren. J Sch Health. 1991;61:81-85.
7. Stanton JL, Keast DR. Serum cholesterol, fat intake, and breakfast consumption in the United States adult population. J Am Coll Nutr. 1989;8:567-572.
8. What We Eat in America, NHANES, 2001-2002, Table 5: Percentage of Americans eating breakfast on any given day and location where eaten, 2001-2002. U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Web site. http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/12355000/pdf/Table_5_BIA.pdf. Accessed January 18, 2010.
9. Larson NI, Neumark-Sztainer D, Hannan PJ, Story M. Family meals during adolescence are associated with higher diet quality and healthful meal patterns during young adulthood. J Am Diet Assoc. 2007;107:1502-1510.