Crestwood Pediatrician, Lindbergh Dining Services Weigh in on Importance of Breakfast

Breakfast has always been called “the most important meal of the day.” And now studies have shown that indeed it is. March 5-9, the National School Nutrition Association is recognizing National School Breakfast Week, stressing how eating a healthy, balanced breakfast helps students with learning and cognitive skills throughout the day. 

According to  in Crestwood, it has been proven that children who eat a balanced breakfast have boosted test scores, improved classroom behavior, reduced tardiness and trips to the nurse’s office.

Dr. Kristen Terrill, M.D., a pediatrician with Esse Health, recently began an initiative focused on informing parents and children on healthier eating and daily exercise.

“For the past 60 years we have talked about kids eating breakfast and how important it is,” Terrill said. “Kids do better on standardized tests, there is a decreased risk of obesity and they tend to make better choices all day long.” 

In an ideal world, Terrill’s balanced breakfast would include plenty of protein, whole grain and fiber. 

“When talking about kids, they don’t like any of those words, so get them involved in the choice,” she said. “Serve meat, eggs, nuts, low-fat dairy—any combination of those is going to work for kids.” 

However, most families in today’s world are grabbing and eating on the run. In those cases, Terrill said to grab a yogurt or handful of strawberries.

“Most parents stress that their kids are in such a rush in the morning that they aren’t hungry. Try serving a half a cup of juice when they wake up and try to avoid stuff like Pop Tarts and high sugary cereals. Then you will have a high glycemic index, a bad attention span and the sugar plummet,” she said.

Parents should also model good breakfast behavior. Even if parents are super busy, Terrill said that families have to make nutritious decisions that work in their real worlds. In fact, even smoothies can be made the night before.

“It’s OK as long as you aren’t eating something processed—a big bowl of fruit and protein. If you can hit those two components you can get your day started off right,” she said.

Gloria Holliday, director of dining services at the Lindbergh School District, realizes that sometimes parents just can’t get to breakfast in the morning, therefore the district offers breakfast. She echoes the benefits of Terrill’s research.

“Research has shown that school breakfast is a tool for increased learning. Students who eat a morning meal earn higher test scores, are more attentive in class and have fewer, hunger-related disruptive behaviors, proving that the reality can be alert, focused kids who are ready to learn,” Holliday said.

Chartwells, the food vendor for the district, has designed school breakfast programs to deliver convenience and nutrition from the cafeteria.

“The program helps kids ‘fuel up’ for a full day’s work with student-friendly foods, a wide variety of grains, fruits, vegetables and non-traditional breakfast items,” Holliday said.

Lindbergh offers the following breakfast items daily:

4 oz. yogurt cup, mini blueberry muffins, low fat cereals (Cherrios, Honey-Nut Cherrios, Rice Krispies and one low sugar cereal), and bagel with light cream cheese, along with fresh and/canned fruit.

A daily special also is offered, which could be whole grain pancakes, scrambled eggs and breakfast pizza.

Terrill’s son attends school in the Lindbergh district, and she said that when she got word that a breakfast cart was being offered where students can grab a piece of fruit or a bagel with cream cheese, she thought that was a fabulous idea.

“That takes the pressure off the parents,” she said. “We need to teach our kids that food is fuel. When we are sleeping our bodies are essentially fasting; we need to refuel them when we wake up. If they don’t have that initial power at the beginning of the day, school is not going to go well.”

Even though school breakfasts do take off some parental pressure, Terrill said that a fundamental goal of parenting should be to establish a good relationship with food.

“Unfortunately I think we eating for many reasons that aren’t hunger, and our kids are seeing that and that is confusing to them. I think that’s why obesity is such a problem—they are missing the natural relationship with food,” Terrill said. “We spend so much time getting our kids into the right schools and the right activities but they are not going to be at their best if they aren’t healthy. If your child is not well he or she isn’t going to be able to do any of those things at their best.”