Mornings can get hectic with children preparing for school and parents dressing for work or preparing food for lunch packs, so much so that breakfast sometimes gets overlooked.

But skipping breakfast is a big no-no for students, according to a recent study. Published in Frontiers in Public Health, it showed that students who eat breakfast every morning get higher grades than students who rarely do. These results link eating breakfast to good academic performance.

Eat breakfast for better grades

Breakfast gives you energy and powers up your brain. To study the link between eating breakfast and academic performance, researchers from the University of Leeds in England asked 294 participants aged 16–18 years to fill a retrospective seven-day food diary that included their breakfast intake and their General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) grades.

“Breakfast” referred to any food or drink with a certain energy content that was consumed by 10 a.m. on school days. Using the food diaries, the researchers were able to determine how often participants ate breakfast on school days: rarely (zero to one day), occasionally (two to three days) or frequently (four to five days). They found that students who rarely ate breakfast on school days got lower grades than their peers who frequently ate breakfast.

Moreover, the combined grades of those who rarely ate breakfast were roughly two grades lower than the combined grades of those who frequently ate breakfast. Overall, the results show a clear and compelling link between eating breakfast and good academic performance.

Meanwhile, a 2015 study by researchers from the University of Iowa showed that free school breakfasts helped students from low-income families perform better academically. In particular, the researchers noted that in schools that offer free breakfasts, students’ math scores were roughly 25 percent higher than those of students whose schools didn’t offer free breakfasts. Their scores in reading and science were also better.

Yet another earlier study on the link between students’ diets and academic performance revealed that students who eat nutritious foods, such as fruits, vegetables and lean proteins, did better on literacy tests than those who mostly ate processed foods that are high in salt and unhealthy saturated fats.

Overall, studies like these emphasize the importance of ensuring your children regularly eat a healthy breakfast so that their academic performance don’t suffer.

Here’s a recipe for a balanced, grade-boosting breakfast

You’ve heard it a thousand times before: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But getting your kids or teenagers to eat breakfast can be challenging, even if they aren’t picky eaters.

Instead of deferring to the usual boxed cereal and milk combo, make breakfast exciting with this egg-in-a-hole recipe. It will only take you 15 minutes to make, too!

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 large eggs
• 4 medium tomatoes
• 4 slices whole-grain bread
• 2 tablespoons grated goat cheese
• Ground black pepper
• Kosher salt
• Olive oil

Preparation:

1. Preheat your broiler. Halve the tomatoes and place them cut-side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle them with oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Broil for 2–3 minutes.
2. Transfer the tomatoes to serving plates. Sprinkle with cheese. Set aside.
3. Brush one side of each bread slice with more olive oil. Using a cookie cutter, cut a three-inch hole in the center of each slice. Set aside the cut-outs.
4. Heat about two teaspoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place half the bread slices and cut-outs, oiled-side up, in the skillet. Cook for 1–2 minutes or until the undersides are crisp. Flip.
5. Crack an egg into the hole of each bread slice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook covered for 2–3 minutes for runny yolks.
6. Transfer to the plates with the tomatoes. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
7. Serve with the tomatoes and cut-outs.

Breakfast may be all that’s standing between your kids and good grades. Help your kids do well in school by preparing them a well-rounded breakfast before sending them off.

Sources:

OrganicFacts.net

ScienceDaily.com

ChicagoTribune.com

WomansDay.com