In many families, mornings are often about running. When the child refuses to eat breakfast, he may skip this meal. But how can I get him to eat something before leaving for school? The nutritionist, Elsa Orivel, gives us advice.
- According to nutritionist, Elsa Orivel, breakfast is an essential meal for children and adolescents, because “they can more easily be hypoglycemic when they wake up in the morning.”
- Because of the omission or irregular intake of this meal, they risk having problems concentrating, feeling weak and injuring themselves in the event of morning sports classes.
- To make breakfast a pleasure, the specialist advises parents to make it a family meal, by sitting down and eating with their child for 15 minutes.
Many students still go to school on empty stomachs. And for good reason: according to a study carried out by Ipsos for the Lactel Foundation, 24% of children do not eat every morning. As for adolescents, 22% of middle school girls in grades 5 to 3 do not systematically eat breakfast during the week. If some people skip this meal because they have no appetite or are tired. Others skip it because they prefer to sleep longer, take more time to get ready (getting dressed, doing their hair) or even deprive themselves of the foods they associate with their weight gain because of expectations or concerns. regarding their diet and body or comments from parents.
“After a night of fasting, children can more easily become hypoglycemic”
“Breakfast is a meal that should not be neglected in children. The latter is not the most important for adults, whose mechanisms work differently. In fact, adults can fast for 16 hours, because “They have more reserves to last. On the other hand, this is not the case in children. After a night of fasting, they can more easily be hypoglycemic when they wake up in the morning.” explains nutritionist, Elsa Orivel. In addition, adolescence is the time of life when calorie needs are very high, especially among boys. “They can’t eat the right number of calories with lunch and dinner. If that’s the case, that means those two meals are too heavy!”
Thus, the specialist indicates that it is essential to “resugar” after waking up. “The blood sugar level is lowest in the morning. You must therefore eat to provide energy to your body, without creating an insulin peak, which will cause a craving at 10 a.m..” If breakfast is omitted or eaten irregularly, the child does not have many glucose reserves in the form of fat. “At school, he may have problems concentrating and not participate optimally. If he has a sports class in the morning, he is likely to feel weak and injure himself.”
Breakfast: “We take the time to sit down with him for 15 minutes to set an example”
If your child refuses to eat in the morning because he is not hungry, “you don’t have to force it”, according to Elsa Orivel. However, if the latter “does not eat breakfast to take more time to prepare or because of a diet, there is a problem with lifestyle and education, which leads to a bad way of eating!” So, in order for this meal to be put back at the heart of the routine of children and adolescents, it should be associated with a pleasure. For that, “you have to make a family meal again to make your child want to eat. We take out the plates, we place the food on the table, we cut the fruit and above all, we take the time to sit down for 15 minutes with him , even if we don’t eat much, to give him an example. If it’s a race, it’s better that he eats something on the way to school than nothing at all.”
Serotonin, dopamine: “Protein is essential for the rest of the day”
On the menu, the nutritionist advises focusing on a savory breakfast. “Don’t hesitate to offer them an omelette, scrambled eggs, cheese, slices of turkey, ham, avocado, bread with raw butter or even dried fruits and oilseeds, such as nuts “If you don’t ask them, they won’t necessarily think about eating these foods. However, proteins are essential for the rest of the day. They increase the production of serotonin, an amino acid in dopamine and stimulate the thyroid, which functions as an energy powerhouse within the body.”
On the sweet side, it is possible to turn to fresh fruits, such as bananas, or yogurt. “We eat pastries occasionally, for example once a month, because they are rich in saturated fatty acids (palm oil, cooked butter), which increase cholesterol and triglyceride levels. If children consume cereals, it is appropriate to opt for muesli or granola, a mixture of cereals, seeds, oilseeds and dried fruits, to limit the glycemic index of cereals”, explains the specialist, who specifies that the idea is to reduce the consumption of “products too industrial”.
To do this, she recommends, for example, preparing pancakes, yogurt cake or French toast on the weekend that children and adolescents can eat during the week for breakfast. “In case of rush, you can give your children a sugar-free compote, bread or milk or even brioche!” To be able to ingest a certain quantity of water as soon as you wake up, Elsa Orivel recommends focusing on hot drinks (milk, tea, hot chocolate).
