Improve Your Child’s Grades With This One Simple Step

Mornings are so hectic, between getting the kids off to school, changing diapers, and trying to make yourself look presentable.

It is easy to forget things in all the chaos when you are focused on making sure you leave the house fully clothed with kids in tow.

And many times, the first thing to go is the most important element to your child’s success.

When people are stressed or busy, they often don’t get the pangs of hunger or are too distracted to notice them.

That doesn’t take away the impact that missing breakfast has on your body and mind, setting the tone for the rest of the day.

NPR reported:

Evidence suggests that eating breakfast really does help kids learn. After fasting all night, a developing body (and brain) needs a fresh supply of glucose — or blood sugar. That’s the brain’s basic fuel.”

How can we expect ourselves or our family to be at their best throughout the morning if they are running on empty?

Think about how your kids may have a big math test in their class, and came in hoping to do their best but they haven’t eaten since 6 pm the previous day.

They will be fatigued, their memory will have harder recall, and they may end up seeing donuts and waffle sticks instead of 1’s and 2’s.

Terrill Bravender, Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University, says to NPR:

Without glucose our brain simply doesn’t operate as well. People have difficulty understanding new information, [they have a] problem with visual and spatial understanding, and they don’t remember things as well.”

This is not how we want to send our kids off to school, or even on a play date as a toddler. We want to encourage the best learning environment for our little Einsteins to excel in.

Research has proven time and time again that children who eat breakfast are going to do better in academic settings.

A very interesting study in recent days came out according to NPR, where 4,000 elementary students were given attention battery tests to see how eating breakfast affects academic endeavors.

Short-term memory was measured by single digits being read by the test administrator and then the students were asked to repeat them.

Verbal fluency was looked at by having the kids name all the animals they could think of in 60 seconds.

Guess who excelled out of the participants? The breakfast eaters, of course, every time.

It is clearly established through research and nutritionists alike that children should be eating breakfast every morning in order to perform their best at school, or in whatever morning feat they attempt.

However, it does make a difference what you are feeding your kids for breakfast as well. A bowl of sugary cereal is not going to get the same effects as a piece of whole-grain toast with peanut butter and an apple.

The latter is the exact meal Bravender suggests having for breakfast because of its low glycemic index, giving you longer hunger satisfaction and better brain-boosting power.

“The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly the carbohydrates in food are absorbed into our bodies and converted to fuel”, explains Bravender.

He continues by adding, “food that is low on the scale — such as whole grains — are preferable. Even though a bowl of sugary cereal and a bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal may have the same number of carbohydrates, they have very different glycemic loads.”

Keeping your pantry stocked with low-glycemic breakfast options not only allows you to feel satisfied until lunch while increasing your cognitive abilities, but it prevents a drastic dip in your blood sugar.

A quick dip in blood sugar makes you feel generally bad, as hormones are released into the blood that affects your mood. In children, this can lead to decreased concentration and memory, according to NPR.

Tufts University psychologist Holly Taylor performed one research study that had children who either ate sweetened oatmeal or Cap’n Crunch cereal and then gave them academic tasks.

Unsurprisingly, the children who ate oatmeal did 20% better than the sugary cereal counterparts, Pennsylvania State University’s website points out.

Both cereals had the same sugar content, but different glycemic loads. This seems to be the key in providing your children the best morning diet to start them off right.

What do some low-glycemic meals look like for kids? Adding a whole-grain and a protein is a good rule of thumb.

This would be whole-grain waffles with almond butter, topped with strawberries, or a glass of milk with oatmeal topped with raw honey and fresh peaches.

Stay away from processed, sugar-laden foods as much as possible. Resist the urge to send your kids on the bus with a pack of mini muffins that offer no fiber, protein, or valuable nutritional content.

Getting up a little earlier to make a healthy breakfast, or changing an already packed schedule to accommodate a sit-down meal before the day begins, sounds like an impossible task.

Your kids academic performance, and their tummy’s will thank you if you start making small changes now to reach the goal of the whole family leaving the house at their peak of cognitive performance.

Please let us know in the comments section if you have good ideas for a healthy and quick breakfast, or if you have noticed a difference when you introduced breakfast into your kid’s routine.