Breakfast is the most important meal of the entire day because it refuels the body for the day ahead after 8-10 hours of night fasting. There was a decade when the popular statement was 'eat breakfast like a king and dinner like a beggar'. Then the following years focused on having equicalorie meals throughout the day. This phase soon shifted to the theory of lighter dinner for weight loss. Whatever the phase was prevalent, one thing was common that breakfast is really important and there is no point skipping it. But there comes a problem when either the parents are unable to prepare the food for their school goer children early in the morning or the child stays unwilling to eat food that early.So before leaving for the school, consuming a healthy hearty meal is really crucial.

Effects of not consuming breakfast -

It has been seen that kids who eat breakfast are overall healthy and more physically active and alert. Those kids who skip breakfast feel tired easily and remain irritable. There is a drop in mood and energy by mid day without breakfast.

Healthy breakfast options -

Choose food sources consisting of whole grains, fruits, vegetables with good protein content and least added sugar. If the child is unwilling to eat, make some nutrient dense recipes. Try to be as innovative as possible.

• Healthy and quick options are -

o Fresh fruits (apple, guava, watermelon, melon, pineapple, kiwi, orange etc)

o Nuts (walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios etc)

o Seeds (flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds etc)

o Vegetable or paneer stuffed sandwich

o Peanut butter and banana sandwich

o Wrapped stuffed paranthas

o Steel cut oats with milk and fresh fruits and seeds

o Vegetable upma, vegetable poha, vegetable bambino or vegetable idli

o Chillas such as Dal chilla, spinach chilla, besan chilla etc.

o Wheat wraps with stuffed veggies and paneer

o Easy to prepare porridge such as ragi, semolina and oats made with milk and served with fresh fruits.

o Oats pudding (prepared at night) or oatmeal as savoury snack

o Egg omelette or scrambled eggs with a bread toast

o Whole wheat pancakes with fresh fruits

o Homemade granola bar

o Also add an energy beverage such as a glass of low fat milk or fresh fruit juice along with.

One of the biggest reasons of childhood obesity is seen to be skipping of meals and children usually skip their breakfast. If the child is unwilling to eat in the