Does your family eat breakfast? Or are you bored with the same old breakfast fare? It’s the same in many houses, because about half of all the kids in this country don’t eat before they leave for school in the morning.
Benefits of School Breakfast
You’ve heard this one before. Perhaps, you’ve even said it. “Low-fat milk is watered-down milk.” The whole truth is, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Milk is highly regulated and there is a “standard of identity” for milk, meaning cows’ milk cannot include added water and still be called milk.
Composition of Cow’s Milk
I love a juicy hamburger with melted cheese, mushrooms and a little bit of mustard. It’s delicious. As a registered dietitian nutritionist, I also want to make sure to feed my family lots of veggies. The The 2015-20 Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourages a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat or fat-free dairy. Research shows that a diet rich in these food groups can help prevent chronic disease.
I love summer – spending time with my kids going swimming, bike riding, traveling, and hearing about how much fun they have at camp while not stressing about homework. But, admittedly, I don’t mind the return to school – and the regular hum of the school routine that comes with it.
In preparation for the start of school, here are three tips to ensure the back-to-school transition goes smoothly – for you and your children – so your summer schedule doesn’t come to a sudden, shocking and painful halt:
In Kindergarten, kids learn to identify one coin from another. But it’s much harder learning the value of those coins. Of course, the quarter is the holy grail of the piggy bank (or the couch cushion), but what can you really buy with a quarter
A glass of milk, that’s what! A glass of bone-building calcium. A glass of nine essential nutrients. An ice-cold glass of wholesome goodness!
Let’s Do The Math!
Back to school means back to busy for a lot of moms. Sometimes you just don’t have time to cook, and that drive-thru starts to look really good.
Fortunately, plenty of fast food restaurants are adding healthier items to their menus, like fruit cups and tortilla wraps – and, of course, fresh low-fat milk.
Replace soda with Milk
Food is a basic need – an absolute necessity – for everyone. Even in America, the land of plenty, one in six people faces food insecurity every day and one in four children go to bed hungry. There are many Americans skipping meals or eating less than they should each day because there just isn’t enough to go around. This can be a senior citizen on a limited income, single parents trying to make ends meet, or families facing a financial emergency. Hunger can affect people from all walks of life.
No need to wait for New Year’s Resolutions or the coming of spring; now is the perfect opportunity for athletes and exercisers young and old to shape up their plates. The MyPlate guidelines provide tools for fueling a healthy body at every meal of the day. See what it has to offer to make your plate complete:
As a registered dietitian and an avid runner, chocolate milk is my refueling beverage of choice! Chocolate milk contains both protein to help repair and build muscles and carbohydrate to help refuel energy stores. A 2007 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that consuming milk-based protein immediately after exercise promoted building muscle. At the same time, consuming carbohydrate within 15 minutes after physical activity causes energy stores to increase by 300%.
It’s that time of year; I find myself dropping kids off at after-school activities, coming home late from work and trying to get a good meal on the table. The only way I can survive is by planning ahead. If that sounds familiar, and if the idea of having a freezer full of home-cooked meals is enticing to you, I have a few simple tricks to help stretch the meal and the budget at the same time.
