LIFESTYLE NEWS - For the first time, a broad coalition of health partners, including the national and provincial departments of health, have combined National Nutrition Week from 9 to 15 October and National Obesity Week from 15 to 19 October to promote a shared and very important message that breakfast is the best way to start your day.
Eating a healthy breakfast every day influences brainpower and physical energy. It also affects health over the long term as studies have shown a connection with reduced risk of heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.
Solutions to common reasons for skipping breakfast:
Morning rush, no time:
Plan and prepare as much as possible the night before. Set up your kitchen for breakfast. Soak the oats and slice the fruit. While making supper, cook extra maize meal porridge for the next day's breakfast or boil some eggs the night before.
I don't like typical breakfast foods:
You don't have to eat typical breakfast food. Combine a starch, fruit or vegetables with at least one other food group. For example, maize meal porridge with maas, brown bread with pilchards, fruit and unsweetened low-fat yoghurt. Last night's leftover beans on brown bread is a great breakfast. A lot of expensive sweetened foods are misrepresented to us as ideal - cereals, bars, biscuits, jams and spreads.
I don't feel like eating:
Breakfast can take place within 3 hours after waking. Consume your breakfast over a three-hour period after waking. You could start with an unsweetened, low-fat yoghurt at 06:00 just before you leave home; have a banana en route to work around 07:00 and eat a peanut butter sandwich on brown bread at 07:45 before you start work.
I'm skipping meals to lose weight:
There are an abundance of studies that show that people who eat breakfast have better weight outcomes. Skipping breakfast can lead to unhealthy food choices to get through to lunchtime. It can also lead to overeating during the day.
Children and breakfast:
Children who eat breakfast perform better at school. Eating breakfast has an immediate, positive impact on cognitive function, especially memory and concentration. One in five South African children skip breakfast.
It helps to make breakfast a family activity and involve children in preparing breakfast and eating together.
For more information, visit www.nutritionweek.co.za.
The participating partners are Nnow (National Nutrition and Obesity Week), Adsa (Association for Dietetics in South Africa), Nutrition Society of South Africa (NSSA), Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSFSA), Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA), Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa), the Consumer Education Project of Milk SA, Department of Basic Education (DBE) and South African Military Health Service (SAMHS).
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