Comments on: Breakfast of Champions? What kids eat for breakfast (Or how a discussion of the Revolutionary War led to a discussion about breakfast foods)

By: graycie

graycie — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:53:13 +0000

It would be interesting to cross-correlate among three variables: family food choices, reading ability, and family income/education levels.

By: ricki

ricki — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:15:41 +0000

Wow. How times have changed. As a kid, I regularly ate cream of wheat (which my mom fixed for me and now I realize how grateful I should be to her for going to that trouble) or Post Toasties or raisin bran or something like that…my parents would NOT buy sugary cereal, only in rare instances when I was sick and not eating, and then they’d buy Capn Crunch or something, with the understanding that it was just because I was sick and just to get me to eat…

as an adult, I tend to favor wheat squares or granola. Or whole wheat toast if I have good bread in the house.

When I was a kid it was just taken for granted that your parents fixed healthy meals for you and saw to it that you ate them. And I’m not that old! (still less than 40). I learned to cook at my mom’s knee and I still like to cook today. It makes me sad when I see the next generation growing up on fast food and instant stuff and not knowing how to cook for themselves, and apparently they don’t know or don’t care about nutrition.

By: Mrs. Bluebird

Mrs. Bluebird — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 01:25:26 +0000

Between sugary over-processed foods, sitting in front of a video game all afternoon and evening, and then elimination of recesses and reduction of physical education programs…it’s a wonder these kids don’t drop dead before they hit middle school.

By: quxing

quxing — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 19:34:05 +0000

and the problem isn’t going to go away — these kids are not learning how to PREPARE healthy food, so it’s likely that they will continue to make poor food choices as adults, too. Do they know how to put a slice of whole wheat bread in the toaster, slice a banana on top, and add a touch of honey or jam? How about yogurt and fruit (not that awful pre-flavored junk)? Hard-boiled eggs, made the night before and ready to go in the frig? All of these are just as convenient, and hey, the eggs even come in their own little wrapper, called a “shell.”

TMS: I agree with you. They’re not going to learn how to prepare healthful food. They’ll continue the cycle. I’ve become obsessed with this and have asked all the children I work with to tell me what they eat for breakfast. So far, that one little girl is the only one who has had a breakfast that wasn’t filled with over-processed, sugary stuff. And the only milk has been strawberry milk and chocolate milk - again lots of sugar added.

By: Lyn

Lyn — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 08:50:33 +0000

Interesting. I think you’d find that most kids eat like that every day - and often junk food (like elementry historyteacher said above) for supper, too. Many families are so rushed, the main focus of eating is fast not healthy.

By: Ruth

Ruth — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:58:41 +0000

A most interesting and surprising post. Like Joan, I thought you would probably find the high achievers has a healthier breakfast. I thought college educated mothers would do bettter..prehpas we need to bring “Home Economics”
back to the curriculum

By: janjanmom

janjanmom — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:27:50 +0000

Very interesting. Could it be that America is dumbing down AND getting fatter in the process.

I was an medium sized kid growing up, but we NEVER had any sort of processed food, except I guess cake was as processed as there was in my house. It was from a mix not from scratch. That was the extent of our convenience food. I take the same approach to food with my kids, sadly, not myself so much.

Today’s yogurt is not exactly healthy. Kids in my scout troop love yogurt, not the real low-fat, low sugar kind but the trix and go-gurt. No real nutritive value there-but still better than a pop-tart. Pop tarts are as rare in this house as a hot-pocket. Maybe a once a year splurge if it is on sale and we have a hefty coupon…then it comes with many lectures about how it is not any different than a cookie/junk food.

By: elementaryhistoryteacher

elementaryhistoryteacher — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 04:14:10 +0000

Junk food isn’t just for breakfast anymore……take some time and ask them what they have for dinner. If it isn’t drive-thru fare it’s processed from a box, bag or package.

By: Joan

Joan — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 23:46:20 +0000

VERY interesting! I’d be surprised if there is not a connection between the eating habits and the learning success.

By: What It's Like on the Inside

What It's Like on the Inside — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000

that libraries are making kids obese by encouraging them to sit still and read?” Carol nodded her head. “There does seem to be a lot of junk food out there. Just last week I was working with some reading groups. We got to talking about theirbreakfast habitsand I was amazed at what they ate, if anything. It made me wonder if this was part of the reason they were low readers.” “Maybe parents just aren’t good at arithmetic these days,” said Mamacita. “You know, the kind that shows they