This Nutrition and Hydration week, we are shining a light on breakfast!
Nutrition and hydration is essential for good health and wellbeing, and we know that a full, nutritious breakfast at school provides the start to the day that children and young people need to thrive.
Hydration is often neglected in dietary discussions, or in relation to aspects such as affecting concentration, but breakfast is a good opportunity to contribute to hydration in children and young people. Even fairly low levels of dehydration can cause headaches, tiredness and poor concentration.*
*(Pross 2017; Suh et al. 2019)
Our Magic Menu of up to 20 items offers choice for children while introducing them to a wide variety of food and nutrients.
In our December 2023 scientific review, commissioned by Magic Breakfast and conducted by the British Nutrition Foundation, the importance of breakfast for health and educational outcomes in children and young people was explored.
Key findings
1.
Many children and young people in the UK do not have access to a range of healthy foods which may affect their brain and overall development. This is particularly true for those living in low-income households.
2.
Breakfast skipping is much more common in adolescents, especially in teenage girls and those living in areas of high deprivation.
3.
Regularly missing out on breakfast increases the risk of children and young people not getting enough of the key nutrients they need for effective learning.
4.
Drinking water or milk is a simple, effective way to improve cognitive performance in school.
5.
Freely accessible, healthy breakfasts in school act as a nutritional safety net for vulnerable young people, providing an opportunity to narrow the gap in diet inequality.
