Skip the Cereal, Give Your Kids a Healthy Breakfast
Many children in our country start off Saturday morning with their favorite cartoon or television show. This is prime time for advertisers to sell the latest trend in children’s toys and foods. The problem is that the latest trend in food is generally an alarmingly unhealthy choice for children. A debate has sparked between the food industry and the federal government about what qualifies as an appropriate and healthy food to advertise to children. According to a recent New York Times article, the food industry began an initiative in 2007, to fight childhood obesity, and are trying to advertise and sell healthier choices for kids.
Unfortunately, the food industry has an odd conception of what is healthy for a child to eat and what is not; Froot Loops with 12 grams of sugar per serving are deemed healthy by their standard. While that amount of sugar is clearly a less than healthy choice for kids, the battle between the food industry giants and the federal government will continue to rage on.
Although it is tough to fight such a big industry on a topic like this, we can all take our own steps to raise happy and healthy children.
Since sugar-filled breakfast foods are one of the largest culprits of target advertising, we came up with a few healthier options to feed your children first thing in the morning:
- Avocado on an Ezekiel muffin or whole grain toast sprinkled with sea salt and extra virgin olive oil
- Raw muesli with fresh berries
- Oatmeal with organic raisins and a touch of maple syrup
- Baked apples or pears sprinkled with oats and/or chopped nuts drizzled with honey or maple syrup
- Fresh fruit smoothies
- Almond butter and banana sandwiches on whole grain toast
- Breakfast egg sandwich with a whole grain muffin, turkey bacon and organic cheese
- Red quinoa with berries and/or bananas, warm milk and honey or maple syrup
What do you serve for your kids in the morning?
Comments
Soup. Miso, chicken rice with lots of veggies, black bean, whatever. And leftover dinner is a big one in our house.
My Kids favorite is a "green" fruit smoothie. They make it themselves in the "Magic Bullet".
Ingredients:
frozen berries
rice milk
a raw pasture raised egg
(pre)ground flax seeds
grade B maple syrup
and a little green powder (we use pure synergy which has a very mild taste)
They have it foe breakfast AND sometimes for dessert too.
My 21 months old and my 3.5 year old eat Heritage Os cereal. Yes, it's a cereal, but it has many different grains and only 3g of sugar per 3/4 cup serving. Good balance of fiber and protein, so it's not too heavy for their digestive system. http://www.naturespath.com/products/low-fat/heritage-o-s-cereal-eco-pac They have it with, or without milk, or yogurt/kefir, and they generally have fresh fruit with it, ranging from strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, apples, to peaches, apricots, and nectarines, depending on what's in season, and whatever I can get organic and/or locally grown in NC (lots of blueberries now!). Sometimes, they have raisins, nuts (almonds, cashews, they don't like walnuts) or banana - the latter is constipating :( They also drink water and very, very rarely, a little oj, more as a treat than hydration. In winter, I substitute some dried fruit. I hope that is a fairly decent breakfast. Opinions, or suggestions for improvement? Since they're both toddlers, they're still picky eaters. I will try oatmeal this Fall/Winter. They
ve had quinoa and millet, but not for breakfast.
My kids love green smoothies or yogurt with nut butter on whole grain toast in the summer and quinoa with fruit and a touch of maple syrup in the winter.
My daughter loves smoothies made with whatever berries we have in the house, 1/2 an avocado and fresh spinach. She can make it herself in the magic bullet; quesadillas with beans and cheese; or a breakfast burrito; or puffed brown rice with soy milk.
Hello, I have a problem. Yesterday, my baby had her 9-month checkup at the doctor. Her teeth are just starting to emerge, so the doctor said to give the baby Cheerios. But Cheerios have sugar in them. I went looking for a healthier alternative. I looked through all the baby crunchies and through the whole cereal aisle, but everything had sugar in it! What could I give my baby? Can anyone direct me to a recipe for making my own Cheerios-like cereal, or is there something, anything we can buy that doesn't have sugar in it?!?! What did people used to feed their teething babies before cereals were invented?
Sarah - Your baby does not need cheerios. If I had it to do again I would avoid all wheat products for at least one year. In Europe they do this and they have a lot fewer grain allergies. My children are gluten free now and their guts are much better. I did feed them wheat at about 6 mos. Cheerios have wheat.
A healthier option may be to make your own teething biscuits. http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/teethingbiscuits.htm
Best of luck with your little one.
I don't have kids, but this article is so apt & so helpful! It's hard as an adult to find healthy breakfast choices for yourself, so thank you for these great ideas . I read somewhere that breakfast cereals, even supposedly healthy ones, are basically junk food, and I agree. Plus they're boring! For a quick breakfast, I love to toast sprouted wheat raisin bread from Whole Foods with Greek yogurt. I also love soup & dinner leftovers like Tara.
Hi Sarah- Our 9 month old, who has 2 teeth, eats Whole Foods"Morning O's." Made with oats and corn. Gluten free and low in sugar. I think it's a round 5 g of sugar per/2 cup, be really only gets like 2 tablespoons at a time.
I found that Kashi has a cereal that I always translate into cheerios: Heart to Heart. It is sweetened but it is a better option!! BEST OF ALL: The brand is 'Healthy Times" and they make teething biscuits!! Maple flavored or Vanilla flavored. I love them. I even eat them!! Healthy Times is a great brand for babes. If you can't find them I will send you a box or two: just contact me.
You can also find a recipe for homemade crackers In Nourishing Traditions cookbook. That cookbook will also explain how to prepare wheat correctly so that you are able to utilize all the wonderful nutrients without it being hard on your body.
This morning my 3 year old had salmon and cashews.
Breakfast taquitos have become the morning favorite! They're healthy, quick and easy, and if you're in a pinch, (for the little over-sleepers) these taquitos can go on the road and gobbled up before you hit the carpool lane! I use flour or wheat tortillias, eggwhites/eggbeaters (in the carton), prepared as you would an omelet - this is the key (instead of scrambled), in a pan the same size as the tortillia. When the egg is done, slide onto the tortillia and layer (flat) a slice of cheese (American 2% single), and a thin slice of turkey (like packaged lunchmeat or from the deli, I prefer low sodium)*. Then ROLL it tight (like a taquito) - intead of FOLDING it and tucking the edges (like a burrito.) Nothing falls out and there's NO mess! (*For kiddos who DO like veggies, add a few ribbons of spinach, avocado or thin slice of tomato. For a more flavorful taquito we add taco bell sauce; believe it or not, or salsa! But then I can't promise you a "no mess" taquito!)
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