PUBERTY

The nutritional value of breakfast

Maria Skoura

 

Recent studies show than only 2 every 5 teenagers have breakfast every day, while 1 in 3 girls doesn’t have breakfast before going to school. Teenage girls require high levels of energy and nutrients since their body grows up fast, in order to get the best possible results for their height, a healthy skin and body. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it is the brain’s main energy source.  The amount of calories your body needs to burn, especially during the morning, doesn’t turn into fat.

The benefits of having a full, regular breakfast:

• Having breakfast everyday reduces the daily amount of energy you get from fat.

• A nutritionally complete breakfast improves creativity and performance in the classroom.

• People that have breakfast tend to have low cholesterol levels compared to those that don’t.

• A well balanced breakfast helps brain function, improves memory and concentration levels.

•  Moreover, a healthy breakfast can reducehunger throughout the day, while helping people make better food choices at other meals, thus avoiding fatty snacks.

•  Daily consumption of paddy cereals, such as wheat (Quaker) or a cereal rich in bran provides both teenagers and adults with 20g of vegetable fibers per day.

Skipping breakfast usually makes people eat more low nutritional value products during the day (sweets, dough products, potato chips etc.) thus increasing the risk of obesity, while having a negative effect on memory, concentration and performance in the classroom.

Always remember that just a glass of milk isn’t enough. Prepare your breakfast the night before to save time in the morning.

Healthy breakfast choices

• 1 glass of milk with wholegrain cereals and 1 fruit

• 1 egg, 1-2 slices of bread, some cheese and 1 fruit

• 1 cup of milk, 1 piece of homemade cake and 1 fruit

• 1 cup milk, 1-2 slices of bread, some butter and honey and 1 fruit or a fresh juice

• 1 yoghurt with wholegrain cereals and 1-2 fruit

• 1 toast (bread, ham, cheese) and 1 fruit or fresh juice

• 1 cup of milk, 1-2 slices of bread with sesame paste and honey and 1 fruit or fresh juice

Maria Skoura

Nutritionist, Scientific Associate of the Greek Society of Adolescent Medicine