Healthy breakfasts for teenagers

Young people live a very busy life during their teenage years. With school, classes, extracurricular activities and social gatherings, this time is the most crucial for almost all teenagers. And this is the time where they tend to skip meals because of their hectic schedules, especially the most important meal of the day — Breakfast.

Breakfast is considered an important meal because it breaks the overnight fasting period, replenishes your supply of glucose and provides other essential nutrients to keep your energy levels up throughout the day.

Breakfast and its boosting benefits

With busy mornings rushing to school, it’s very easy for teenagers to give breakfast a miss. But just taking out a few minutes to have something to eat can really make a huge difference.

Here are the advantages of having a wholesome breakfast and why you must not skip this first meal of the day.

Energy all day: Breakfast ensures we get our energy for everyday activities. A good healthy breakfast is known to increase concentration and school performance in teens. Breakfast should contain a balance of carbohydrates and protein to ensure teens have enough energy to get going until lunch.

Nutrition: Breakfast should be eaten within an hour of waking up in order to get your metabolism quick started. Besides providing enough energy, breakfast foods should contain enough calcium, iron, Vitamin B and fibre as the body needs a good dose of these essential vitamins and minerals. Research shows that teens who miss their breakfast are less likely to compensate these nutrients later in the day. Most importantly, fruits and vegetables should be made a part of breakfast to make it an antioxidant rich one giving maximum benefits.

Weight management: Skipping breakfast as a strategy to lose weight is a very common strategy amongst teenagers, especially teenage girls. However, teens and their parents must be aware that eating a healthy, wholesome and a good portion size breakfast can be good for the waistline too! Also, one is more likely to reach out for high sugar and high fat foods (junk foods) if they skip breakfast.

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