It is even more of an importance for school age children to consume breakfast, to be in the right frame of mind for their academic day. Serveying today shows that more and more kids are showing up to school on an empty stomic. This is resulting in tiered students, that may have more difficulty learning or remembering the information being teached. Wake them up 15 minutes earlier and get better arganized, breakfast can be simple to prepare and injoyable to eat.
I find it ironic that schools today strees the level of importance of a well balanced diet, but at the same time have you seen what they serve in thier cafeterias? You gotta do better than frech fries, hot dogs, soda, hamburgers and crap.
There is know reason why they can't be eating such foods as fresh fruit, vegetables, health bars, sandwiches, etc. Bare in mind, the the food groups and get the childs input on what they would like to have, after all they are the one that are supose to me eating it.
Most kids will do, or say anything to get away from eating the food that they are not interested in. It also seem no matter how little of a portion you give them, they don't seem to finish it off. I learned to pile it on expecting her only to eat half of it, know the other half does not go in the garbage, I eat it. Whatever the case, get their input on what they would like to see served and spruce it up with some nutrition.
I personally feel that this meal should not be a fight, by getting mad at them and forcing them to stay at the table until all the food is gone. Don't send them to their rooms without dinner, what kind of punishment is that? They will always save room for dessert.
The snack being consumed can be, but does not have to be, a complete sugar fix. There are plenty of healthy snacks that all children can injoy and they will not make them jump up and down until it wears off. There are such items as candies made from concentrated fruit juices, they won't even know, health snack bars, cereals, jello, fresh fruit, etc. that all can be injoyed by the youngster looking for a snack.
The desserts in this section will be as easy to prepare as possible, so that maybe the child themselves can assits in the preperation on the recipe. I find that they just love helping in the kitchen, except with the dishes. I myself would keep them away from the burners and knives, but find that love to assits in other ways. Cracking eggs, mixing, stirring, measuring, fetching ingredients, etc. are all good jobs for them and can prove to be a great time saver for the dish being prepared.