HealthWatch: National Better Breakfast Month

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - You know the old saying: “It’s the most important meal of the day.” And with school back in session, a healthy breakfast is more important than ever.

Dr. Larson with Creekside Medical Clinic has some advice.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Larson at Creekside Medical Clinic. September is National Better Breakfast Month, and with our kids returning to school I wanted to touch on the importance of this first meal of the day. Establishing and maintaining healthy eating behaviors in childhood and adolescence can help to prevent many diet-related chronic illnesses, as well as help prevent the development of other illnesses later in life such as obesity, coronary artery disease, stroke, and type-2 diabetes. One of the best ways to establish these healthy eating behaviors is to focus on making sure our kids are eating breakfast. in a 2015 survey, just over 36% of high school students reported eating breakfast every day of the week. More than half reported that they ate breakfast less than twice per week. Considering that breakfast contributes around 1/4th of daily calories for children, that is a lot of lost nutrition. In a study of students who ate breakfast regularly, it was found that those children had increased performance in subjects such as math, fewer child and teacher ratings of psychosocial problems, and decreased incidence of absenteeism and tardiness. If you are looking for information on what foods are best to focus on at breakfast, the Choose My Plate tool at myplate.gov is a great resource. In general, try to focus on foods high in fiber, protein, calcium, vitamin D, and iron; try to avoid sugar-sweetened beverages and foods with added sugars. Stay safe and healthy and have a great school year,” said Dr. Larson