Children’s breakfast: cereals, toast or cakes?

For the best balanced breakfast, what drinks and food?

A balanced breakfast is an energy supply of 350 to 400 kilos calories with:

• — A beverage to hydrate.
• — A dairy product which will provide calcium and protein. Both are essential for the growth of your child. At his age, he now needs 700 mg of calcium per day, which is the equivalent of half a liter of milk and yogurt. A 200 ml bowl of milk covers a third of its needs.
• — Fresh fruit diced or squeezed fruit for vitamin C and minerals.
• — A cereal product : 1 / 5th of a baguette or, failing that, 30 g plain cereals for complex and simple carbohydrates. These will provide energy to the body and help the brain to function.
• — Sugar for fun and immediate energy, either a little jam or honey.
• — Lipids, in small quantities in the form of butter on the toast. They provide vitamin A, essential for the skin and to strengthen the immune system, and vitamin D, to synthesize calcium.

Prefer plain bread or cereals

Contrary to popular belief, for breakfast, bread is preferred, simply because it is a simple food made from flour, yeast, water and a little salt. It mainly provides complex carbohydrates and fibers that hold well, and does not include sugar or fat. You can add butter and jam without feeling guilty!

Note: sourdough bread has a better glycemic index and holds better. Cereal bread provides additional minerals, but it’s a matter of taste!

Your child prefers cereals

First of all, we might as well know: they are not better for him, because they are obtained by extrusion, an industrial process which partly modifies their initial nutritional quality. They have fewer complex carbohydrates and do not provide more energy than bread! As for proteins, their rate is not more interesting than in bread, and vitamins are those provided by a varied diet. It’s all about proportion! Then, some are very fatty and sweet. So, if he eats it every day, prefer plain ones (like Corn Flakes, Weetabix…) or with honey.

Limit chocolate cereals, cookies and pastries

• – Chocolate cereals for breakfast are generally fatty (some provide up to 20% fat). Check the labels, and don’t be fooled by claims such as group B vitamins (needs are covered elsewhere), calcium or iron (provided by milk)! If he asks for them, give them once a week, but not every day.
• – The so-called “breakfast” cookies in addition to starch (complex carbohydrates) provide sugars (sometimes glucose fructose syrup which promotes fat storage), saturated fats, even “trans” fats ( very poor quality and strongly discouraged). As for the “milk-filled” version, supposedly rich in calcium, this is pure marketing: 50 g (ie a serving of 2 cookies) covers 7% of the RDI (recommended daily allowance)!
• – Pastries are part of the pleasures of life, but are rich in saturated fat …
• Conclusion? No question of banning anything, but be vigilant: the interests of manufacturers are not necessarily that of children. Play on balance every day and leave him a product that tempts him once a week.

Bake cakes or French toast

Home-made cakes provide better quality ingredients than cookies or industrial cakes. The strain will help him develop his tastes and appreciate the natural flavors. If in addition you do them with him… he will have even more fun! On days when you have time, prepare a cake, a clafoutis, pancakes, French toast … with your child and share his breakfast. A meal taken in conviviality will give him more the desire to eat everything. Balance also requires diversity!

Some ideal breakfast ideas for children

Dare unexpected weddings. Children are curious. Enjoy it!

• – Instead of fruit, make smoothies with seasonal fruits or a compote (banana-rhubarb or banana-strawberry…). Also try the fruit salads.
• – Does he like hot chocolate milk? Don’t hesitate to do it the old-fashioned way with real chocolate and a vanilla bean in milk!
• – To accompany his buttered toast, try surprising jams such as green tomato or rose. Children sometimes appreciate flavors that we would not suspect!
• – If it is difficult to take milk, vary by mixing its cereals (unsweetened) with small Swiss or cottage cheese and add honey.
• – Make French toast and add fresh or frozen fruit (raspberries, pieces of peach, rhubarb compote, etc.): this is a complete breakfast!
• – To vary, serve with a homemade cake or a fruit brioche, fresh or frozen, to soak in stirred yogurt!

Breakfast age by age

“From 4 to 6 years old, the child needs 1 calories per day, and from 400 to 7 years old, he needs 9 calories per day”, explains Magali Nadjarian, dietician.

For three-year-olds, in the absence of a bowl, a 250 ml bottle of semi-skimmed or whole cow’s milk or enriched growth milk is quite suitable. To this will be added 50 g of cereals: they provide a large part of the energy necessary for the morning, calcium and a minimum of lipids. And for the menu to be complete, we add a glass of fruit juice and a piece of fruit.

“The small bowl of milk can also be replaced by yogurt, a small Swiss of 60 g or two of 30 g, 3 tablespoons of cottage cheese or 30 g of cheese (like Camembert)”, suggests Magali Nadjarian.

For 6-12 years, 55% of the energy must be supplied in the first part of the day because the assimilation is better.

Ready-to-use cereals effectively contribute to meeting the nutritional needs of children and adolescents. The latter, in full growth, tend to shun dairy products while an intake of 1 mg of calcium per day is recommended. Cereals are then a good way to promote their consumption. But some of them can also contain a high sugar level.

Madeleines, brioches and other chocolate breads, too fatty, are also to be avoided. As for the buttered toast, rich in fat, they should be consumed in moderation: one or two slices of bread depending on age. “A small single serving of 10 g of spreadable butter is sufficient for a supply of vitamin A, which is good for vision. Jam is a pleasure food which contains only sugar because the vitamin C of the original fruits has been destroyed during cooking, its quantity must be limited “, advises Magali Nadjarian, before adding that” honey is made up of simple carbohydrates and by its large amount of fructose constitutes a mild laxative ”.

Finally for fruit juices, the dietician recommends choosing those “without added sugar” or even better to squeeze oranges, “on condition of drinking the juice immediately after the pressure because vitamin C is destroyed in the light”. To be reserved for gourmets in no hurry.

Some tips to whet your child’s appetite:

Set up a pretty table the day before with cutlery, straws and a funny bowl to make eating in the morning a pleasure.

Wake up your child 15 or 20 minutes before so that he has time for a leisurely lunch and offer him a glass of water or fruit juice to whet his appetite.

Vary dairy products, in particular if he refuses milk: fromage blanc, petit suisse, cheese.

Arrange on the table different kinds of fun cereals.

Pair it up, when possible, at breakfast groceries.

Make a painting of the four basic foods, with pictures for the little ones, and let him or her choose for each of them.

What if he doesn’t want to eat anything?

Prepare him a small snack for recess. Compose small homemade and original sandwiches such as a slice of sandwich bread spread with a half-salted square or a gingerbread filled with a small banana Swiss. You can also slip a briquette of pure fruit juice or a compote along with a small bottle of liquid yogurt in your satchel.

To avoid

– energy chocolate bars. They contain fatty substances and sugars. They are too high in calories and do not bring any feeling of satiety.

– very sweet fruit nectars

– flavored waters. Some are too sweet and get the youngsters used to the sweet taste.