The importance of breakfast for our health

After all these ages, breakfast is still accepted as the most important meal of the day. Literally, breakfast is expressed as a morning meal that breaks the fasting phase of the prior night. According to Edefonti et al. (2014), the primary food or meal taken through the day is known as breakfast. It is normally consumed during the morning before going to school or work.

To define it in a more precise way, Corder (2013) suggested that, breakfast is a meal that covers more than 100kcal of energy consumed between6 a. m. to 9 a. m. Acting as the fuel to start the day, energy content of breakfast are not fixed as it depends on the kind of food consumed. For instance, Edefontiet al. (2014) noted that, 27% to 56% of energy came from fat and 62% to 34% of energy derived from carbohydrates in a bread roll with margarine and jam and a milkshake. This depicts that even the insignificant meal of breakfast such as bread contributesto a large proportion of energy to human as a jumpstarter of the day. However, many people in thisrecent erafrequently skip and skimp on breakfast due to their hectic life. This has made it fall in the list of priorities to do in the morning.

Providing a nutritious breakfast to the children is indeed a constant concern for every parentand caretakers in this world. Along with the flow of progressive technology, breakfast has undergone several nutritionists and dietitian interventions that have led to variety of simple yet nutritious meals for the childrenevery day. From the most classical bread with jam, biscuits, yogurt, and omelet, parents nowadays are more likely to prepare a ready-to-eat breakfast which is breakfast cereal.

Williams (2014) believed that, the significance of breakfast cereal in balanced diet has been identified for many years. Some of the examples of breakfast cereal as stated by Williams include porridge, oats, and muesli but he put exclusions to breakfast bars, muesli bars, milk drinks, liquid breakfast products, and yogurt products. He also said that, it is a crucial source of key nutrients as breakfast cerealoffer high nutrient density particularly those that are whole grain or high in cereal fiber as listed by dietary guidelines. Furthermore, he added that breakfast cerealis also possibly one of the most vital sources of whole grains with antioxidants and phytoestrogens. Yet, there are still some unsure nutritional qualities of the breakfast cereal when most of the products nowadays contain high amount of salt, sugar or saturated fats. In this case, processed food labels should be observed carefully to prevent it from commanding reverse effects to the children.

There are a lot of consequences of having a proper diet especially the breakfast as it sets the tone throughout the day. As cited in Knapton (2016), it is mentioned that while further study must be done, the legendary saying of ‘ Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper’ might bring some truth. This proves that breakfast as the main meal provides appealing benefits for the society especially to the children who are still in their growing process. In addition, school children who are a part of the community should gain adequate nutrition in their diet. Thus, boosting energy level, improving school performance and helping in weight are three major benefits of consuming breakfast among school children.