Back-To-School Brain Foods for Kids

Just as athletes eat certain foods to maximize their performance and to win, back-to-school children can also eat certain foods to optimize energy and brain power. The right foods can make all the difference in your child's success as they head back-to-school this year.

The first food item to place in your child's brain power arsenal for back-to-school, is more of a group/meal than one item and it is breakfast. Breakfast is well and truly the most important meal of the day for anyone, but most of all for a back-to-school going child who needs the boost to feel good and fire up the brain. In choosing foods to offer your child for breakfast, skip the high sugar-laden snack type breakfast foods in favor of choices that are guaranteed to give the child's brain a boost that will not result in a mid-morning crash.

Powering up this back-to-school breakfast arsenal, there are several brain-power boosting options that can easily be made kid-friendly. Here are a few tips on breakfast foods that will empower your back-to-school child's brain:

Eggs- While some kids will eagerly go for an egg on a biscuit or english muffin combined with cheese and a meat such as sausage or bacon, others will opt for a pile of scrambled eggs. Those that are more reluctant when it comes to this brain-rich food choice, can be tempted by delicious french toast-a tasty way to get those eggs in there via a more kid-friendly food choice. Make this delectable option with whole wheat toast topped with delicious syrup and you may have a back to school winner that boosts brain power.

Oatmeal- A high-in-fiber whole grain, this back-to-school breakfast choice is slow to digest, therefore giving kids an uninterrupted flow of protein-rich energy. If possible, skip the pre-packaged versions of this brain-boosting food in favor of cooking the oatmeal yourself. This can be done relatively quickly atop the stove in the mornings or in a time-saving slow cooker fashion as well. Let the kids add brown sugar or maple syrup for sweetening and have such good options like raisins, cranberries, various other fruits and nuts available for stirring in.

Strawberries and Blueberries- While certainly not limited to breakfast, these are power-packed fruits rich in antioxidants that are delicious atop the aforementioned french toast, alongside brown-sugar sweetened oatmeal, made into smoothies or simply eaten straight up. Excellent back-to-school brain booster.

Let's talk about back-to-school lunches. This meal needs to be power packed in order to give kids the energy needed to get through the rest of the school day. If your child takes their lunch to school, have them join you in shopping for nutritious and tasty lunchtime options. Here are a few key things to consider:

Whole Wheat Bread- Packed with fiber and folate, this is an important part of a healthy meal for kids. Try winning kids over to whole wheat by offering fun mini-sandwiches using their favorite fillings or sending whole wheat crackers or tortillas with fun toppings.

Milk- Flavoring milk with chocolate or strawberry syrups gives no more sugar than the average fruit juice, so let the kids take a favorite flavor for lunch, as milk is a great source of calcium and protein.

Fruit- While not necessarily 'brain foods' per se, fruit is essential in keeping kids' bodies regular, therefore feeling good and ready to learn. Constipation is a common problem for children, making them feel bad overall, sluggish and distracted. Make fruit fun, send it cut up and easily eaten-maybe including colored toothpicks for fun.

The school day is over and kids are ravenous. This time of day is just as important when thinking of energy and brain power for kids. There are after-school activities, fun times and homework to be done yet. Water and a snack of whole grain cereal would be a great way to boost the body for that time period after school yet before supper time. Dehydration after a long day at school is a very real threat, as most kids do not take the time to drink enough. Encouraging kids to drink some water several times a day is important and adding it as part of the after school snack is a good habit to form and keep.

Suppertime continues the pursuit of brain-rich foods for everyone, especially the kids. Involve kids in the making of the evening meal and they'll be more likely to eat a variety of choices. A super food such as beef can be done many ways-burgers, steak, fun kebobs. Being sure to include several choices of fruits and vegetables makes for good, brain-rich, lifelong eating habits for all.

Happy, healthy kids mean happy, healthy lives for everyone in the family.