I’ve had it said to me a million times: “Eat your breakfast! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!”
And now that I’m a Mum, I find myself saying the same thing to my little ones.
The kids do enjoy their breakfasts, though on weekday mornings, it’s usually cereal, bread, fruit, or some bun from the bakery, and a cup/bottle of milk. On other times, I sometimes manage to squeeze out pancakes or sausages or fish fingers, and when once in a while – like today – there’s quiche.
While I currently do feel that school starts too early in the morning for Noey, I know that it only gets worse once he hits Primary school. At least there is still time now for him to get a bite before leaving the house. But the time will come when he might have to wake up before sunrise to get ready for school. And when that happens, the temptation to get more sleep at the expense of having breakfast will be very real. I know — I was one of those who traded food for sleep.
It is this trend that the team behind the Rise and Shine Breakfast Campaign hopes to address.
The statistics from a survey conducted on the breakfast habits of kids in Singapore uncovered some worrying habits: Approximately 1 in 3 children skipped breakfast at least once a week with nearly half of these citing having insufficient time to eat as the reason. And when the children did eat breakfast, they frequently picked the less healthy options over their healthier and more nutritious counterparts.
The aim of the Rise and Shine Breakfast Campaign is to raise awareness of these issues and promote healthy breakfast habits among children aged 4-12 years old. To do this, the team will be travelling to different libraries, malls and schools around Singapore to spread the message through the use of displays as well as storytelling and theatre performances. Do check out their Events Page to see when they might be coming to a location near you.
And really, a healthy breakfast need not be difficult to put together. I was given a delicious packet of yummy granola by the Rise and Shine Breakfast team, which when added to some low-fat yoghurt, made for a healthy and tasty breakfast for me.
Even Naomi approved.
Stuck for ideas for easy and healthy breakfasts? Check out this Recipe Page for more!
The finale of the Rise and Shine Breakfast Campaign will be the Rise and Shine Carnival, Singapore’s largest breakfast fiesta, which would be taking place on Sunday 3 March 2013 at the Lawn @ Marina Bay. Registration for this event is now open! They’ve got heaps planned so do go register to join in the fun!
Do also visit the Rise and Shine Facebook Page to find out more about the campaign and details of upcoming events.
* I am excited to be one of the Partner Bloggers for Rise and Shine, a children’s health and development expo which will be taking place in September this year. I will be blogging more on matters relating to children’s health and development this year so do watch this space!
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