Why is breakfast considered the most important meal of the day?

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” But why? And does it actually improve how you feel and function throughout the rest of the day?

Eating breakfast helps to break the fasting that occurs during the night while you sleep (hence the name, “break-fast”). It is important to eat a healthy breakfast, but it is especially important for students and their learning.

Studies show that eating a healthy breakfast before starting the school day is linked to things such as improved concentration, better test scores and increased energy/productivity. All of these directly help students perform better inside and outside of the classroom.

There are many articles and studies that showcase the benefits of breakfast! We have provided some links below, but here are some of main points we want to summarize:

Brain Benefits: Students who ate a healthy, balanced breakfast everyday,  noticed improved concentration & mental performance overall. Students were more focused on their assignments and lessons. There was also an increase in memory, helping to better retain the information students were learning. Students were more engaged in class discussions, were able to better understand complex problems/assignments, and had improved grades/test scores!

Physical Benefits: Students who ate breakfast before they began their day, noticed an increase in energy. This comes from the carbs and proteins that are often in our breakfast foods. The increase in energy can cause students to be more physically activity, which ultimately increases a students overall health.  Students who eat breakfast every day also improve their immune system, which results in less sick days overall.

Behavioral Benefits: Students who frequently skip breakfast, show an increase in negative emotions or increase in negative mental states. Students were more likely to get frustrated or give up easily, or show an increase in anxiety or depression if breakfast was missed. Students who regularly ate breakfast, however, had more positive emotions, better mental well-being and better attendance.

Articles/resources for more info:

Healthy food choices in schools.
Does eating breakfast help school performance?
Does eating Breakfast affect a child’s learning?
Benefits of eating a healthy breakfast

Now that you have all of this information, you are probably wondering what kinds of breakfast options are best! There are tons of options to choose from, and sometimes planning out what to make, especially early in the morning, can be tough. But luckily, we found 3 nutritious, fun, and EASY breakfast options you can make before the start of school! (Did we mention that they are EASY?!).
Please remember to check for any food allergies prior to making any recipe mentioned below.

Breakfast Toast Faces

Credit: Fork and Beans
Total time: 15 min

Ingredients:

Scrambled eggs (optional cook time)
Bread (optional: toasted)
Hummus or spread of your choice
Various veggies

Instructions:
While the eggs are cooking and bread is in the toaster, cut up the veggies of your choice
Once toast is ready, spread hummus over toast, use the cut up veggies to decorate or make a smiley face, and use the scrambled eggs as hair!

Banana Pops

Credit: Chocolate Covered Katie 
Total time: 5 min

Ingredients:

Bananas (you could also use strawberries, pineapple, etc)
Yogurt of your choice
If you have no nut allergies, peanut/almond butter would also be a great option!
Granola of your choice
Popsicle sticks
Optional add-ons: chocolate chips, coconut shreds, cinnamon sugar, raisins

Instructions:
Peel bananas, cut in half, insert popsicle stick. Dip into yogurt, or spread yogurt onto banana with a knife. Roll banana into granola. Sprinkle optional add-ons.
For best results: place on a wax-lined tray and place in freezer overnight

Apple Fruit “Donuts”

Credit: Hello Wonderful 
Total time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

Apples
Cream cheese
Food coloring (optional)
Sprinkles

Instructions:
Slice apples about ¾ inches thick. Use knife, corer, or pastry tip to make a hole in the center (be careful!). Spread cream cheese on your apple “donuts” (optional step: use food coloring to color cream cheese into fun color options!). Sprinkle your sprinkles or other topping of choice on your apple “donut”!