Studies show a healthy breakfast can encourage weight loss and increase productivity in adults and children. According to the American Dietetic Association, breakfast eaters have more strength and endurance, better concentration and problem solving skills; better eye hand coordination and they're more alert and creative. But for many families the breakfast table is a battleground.

"I'm lucky if I can get my eight year old to eat dry cereal in the car on her way to school," confessed one Michigan Mom and I know children who eat better in the morning perform better in school because I've seen it with my own two kids". Holly from Chelsea blogged, "If I can get everybody up and dressed and out the door on time with completed homework assignments and a healthy lunch, I know they're not going to starve but I'd really like to see them eat better in the morning. I know it can't be good for them to sit through morning classes on an empty stomach."

"Not this morning, Daddy, I have a tummy ache."
Stay-at-home Denver Dad wrote, I buy all their favorite foods and it's still a constant battle." "I usually get "I'm too tired" from my wife, "I have a stomachache" from our five year old and "I'm not hungry in the morning" from our teenager. Like most parents I have to pick my battles, especially in the morning when we're all headed out the door in different directions. The truth is our family physician would like to see us all lose a few pounds. Convincing everyone to eat breakfast and keeping them motivated is the hardest part for me."

A power breakfast a day just might keep the Dr. away…
The National Weight Control Registry, a database of individuals who've maintained a weight loss of at least 30 pounds for a year or more notes that one of the behaviors all participants have in common is eating breakfast almost every day. The American Journal of Epidemiology reports breakfast skippers have a 4.5% greater risk of obesity. Even skipping breakfast once a week increases your odds of being overweight or obese.

Turns out, what we eat is as important as when we eat. According to The Journal of The American College of Nutrition, breakfast skippers and those who ate breakfasts consisting of meat and eggs in the morning consumed more calories overall every day and had significantly higher BMI's than participants who consumed ready to eat cereals, Cooked cereals, fruit or Quick Breads for breakfast.

Best Bets for Breakfast
Crazy schedules, picky eaters, exhausted parents; we've all made it this far. Giving up is giving in and it's not an option or your Mother would have said so. Check out these best bets for breakfast!

Think Lunch for Breakfast – Kids love ham and cheese "roll ups" and fruit in the morning.

Grab-and-go fruit – fruit kids can hold in their hands without getting messy. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and grapes are all great picks.

Meat and Cheese roll ups - lower sodium lean ham and turkey and thinly sliced "real" whole milk or low fat cheese you "roll" up and hold together with festive toothpicks (to keep the rolls from falling open). My niece has a long commute to school every morning and this is one of her favorite breakfasts. What she doesn't finish she tucks into her lunch box. At the end of the day when my sister picks her up from school my niece is usually "starving". "Starving" children can easily be talked into finishing lunch box leftovers. Plus, the hungrier they are the more receptive children are to trying new healthy foods. No matter who picks up my niece from school—the rule is to show up with something healthy for her to eat. Meat roll-ups, fruit, cheese-sticks and blanched green beans are her favorite after school snacks.

Whole Grains Sustain. Whole grain foods help you to sustain good clean energy throughout the day because they absorb more slowly into the body and help to keep blood sugar levels stable for longer. Look for whole grain breads made with flour, water, yeast and salt. Breads made with oils, margarine, butter and sugars have more calories not more flavor.

Best spreads for your bread; apple butter, prune butter, all-fruit jams with no added sugar and cranberry sauce.

Cereal and 1% or Skim Milk – Look for ready-to-eat cold cereals and quick-cook hot cereals with whole grains as their first ingredient, at least three grams of fiber and no more than 8 grams of sugar per serving. Top your cereal with fresh fruit and use skim or 1% milk.

Bagels or Eggs?
Thirty women with BMI's of at least 25 consumed an equal-weight, egg or bagel based breakfast for eight weeks. Egg eaters experienced a 61% greater reduction in BMI, a 65% greater weight loss, a 34% greater reduction in waist circumference and a 16% greater reduction in percent body fat. A possible clue to their success, participants reported feelings of greater satiety during pre-lunch periods and consumed fewer calories for the entire day and the next 36 hours.

By the Numbers…

• A half a bagel has 200 calories, a few grams of fat and a couple hundred mgs of sodium. That's without the butter and cream cheese.
  
  
• One large egg has just 71 calories, 5 grams of fat, 211 mg of cholesterol and 70 mg of sodium.
  
  
• One egg white has 16 calories, no fat, not cholesterol and only 55 mg of sodium.
  
  
• An entire cup of egg whites has only 117 calories, no fat, no cholesterol and 403 mg of sodium.

Breakfast Foods that Fool
Dessert-y sounding breakfasts foods typically are, from a nutritional standpoint.

• Two healthy sounding cherry all natural or whole grain Toaster Tarts can have 408 calories, 10.6 grams of fat and 440 mg of sodium.
  
  
• The price for just two pancakes with butter and syrup… How about a whopping 520 calories, 14 grams of fat, 58 grams of cholesterol and an entire days worth of sodium.
  
  
• One classic Cinnabon has 730 calories and 24 grams of fat. Even if you only ate half you'd still be consuming 365 empty calories and 12 grams of fat.
  
  
• Dennys Belgian Waffle Platter has 619 calories, 274 grams of cholesterol, a whopping 1683 mg of sodium and 45 grams of fat without syrup.
  

kd@chefkathleen.com