Parenting on the Plateau: Breakfast with a Side of Insult

Eat your breakfast, it's the most important meal of the day. 

Some days I wonder how it is that my kids can be hungry all day long. Frequent requests for food and snacks come within an hour of breakfast and it’s enough to make me lose my mind. Are they eating enough? Are they bored? Are they developing poor eating habits? Do they have tapeworm?

Recently I initiated a “Big Breakfast” event in my home. I love cooking and though my time has become limited, it makes me happy to offer a big morning spread for my family. This consists of a super-sized meal on one day a week that we’re all home – generally a Saturday or Sunday. I make eggs and scones and sausage or bacon. We have fruit and pancakes or French toast. I’m generous with cheese on the eggs and include yogurt for the fruit. 

My kids love it, look forward to it, and eat it up with the fervor of a hungry linebacker. They love the variety and they surprisingly clean their plates – or ask for more. It is a bit perplexing even that they can take down so much  What is further perplexing is how they never ask for another bite when they leave the table. In fact, they are often not even ready for lunch and I’m forced to slide our noon lunch to nearly 1pm before they’ll even consider sitting for another meal. They are happy and content.

And they are full.

This has taught me something about my kids’ eating habits and becomes a crucial awareness for the start of their school careers. It’s no mystery that kids need a well-rounded diet and that they should absolutely be starting the day with a meal – everyone should. We’re taught about the value of food groups and the importance surrounding a child’s learning on a full belly. But what’s misleading is that cold cereal or frozen waffles alone can be enough for steadily growing children. 

I’m not implying that there should be a full breakfast buffet on the table seven days a week, but the balance and inclusion of proteins in their morning meal has made such a noticeable impact that I’m buying bacon in bulk.

The need for protein in their early-morning diets is an important one. Whether it come from eggs, meat or milk, it cannot be ignored and cannot be replaced with carb-heavy alternatives. Which might harken back to the food pyramid’s foundation layer of grains. 

Perhaps not a new development, but a recent news report from USA Today further stresses the importance of a balanced meal consisting of protein and fiber will help longer satiate the body. If our kids’ requests for snacks all day is driving us bonkers, just imagine how it’s affecting our teachers? And the children trying to learn?

As we understand more and more about the food balance in our bodies, we might realize the very foods we’ve banished from the kitchen are the ones we need to be healthy. Eggs are not a bad thing. And before you start on egg yolks, consider that the bulk of an eggs nutritional benefits lie in these little yellow powerhouses – which include choline (white’s .04mg vs. yolk’s 116), folate (white’s 1 microgram vs. yolk’s 25), and calcium (white’s 2mg vs. yolk’s 22) along with many other important vitamins and nutrients.

Side rant: Most recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has banished the food pyramid from nutritional learning, instead replacing the food allocation guideline with a round plate. Rocket science, clearly. (Though it’s missing sugar altogether. I’d like to argue the need for treats in moderation to prevent deprivation and binge eating… but I’ll save that for another day.) 

A National Public Radio interview this past June unveiled the new plate graphic and included sound bites from Professor John Stanton, the head of Department of Food Marketing at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, who describes the pyramid as “too complex." He states, “can you think of a busy mother trying to put delicious, nutritious food on the table looking at a pyramid?” and suggests we couldn’t figure out the system of having a grain- and produce-heavy diet in lieu of a sugar-spiked one.

Do I even need to delve into the offensiveness of this statement? I, for one, find this a bit of an insult. Too complex? Please. 

For as long as I can remember, possibly Kindergarten, we’ve all been taught of the food pyramid. We’ve had the idea instilled in our brains from age 5 with classroom activities and color contests and we’ve grown with its image stamped on food packaging. Mothers blog and compete for the best and tastiest food options to nourish our pickiest members of society. We grow our veggies and spend time in farmers markets. We share time-saving recipes and cook with the best of them. We spend the laborious time finding special ingredients to make gluten-free, peanut-free, sugar-free snacks and meals. We dance around making homemade baby food, free of preservatives, and seek out natural and organic options within our budgets. We know food.  We know how to feed our families. And we know how to read a pyramid. Perhaps it’s too complex for you Professor, but I think us mothers have it figured out.

As we look to the start of the school year, remember how protein is playing a role in those pint-sized bodies and the value of a happily full child.  Embrace breakfast and the power of protein.

Just make sure it fits on the plate.