Healthy Eating Habits - teenage issues

NUTRITION: Gain or lose?

I am starting this entry to discuss health-related teenage issues - in particular healthy eating habits. I am a teacher in Sapura Smart School and I teach teenagers Science and Biology. Nutrition is one of the topics thought in the secondary school, in Form 2 Science and in Form 4 Biology.
Nutrition is an important issue to fast-growing teenagers. I this blog I hope to create interest in my students on healthy eating, the key factor to a healthy long lifestyle.

You need to eat your breakfast!

Its always a very frustrating experience for me when I enter my class at 8:00am and I find a student fast asleep with his/her head bent over the table. I wake him/her up and he/she grudginglly raised his/her head, rubbed his/her eyes then went back to sleep. A second prompting, which often requires more forcely methods like a raised voice and a shake on his/her shoulders, will do the work of waking him/her up. This is quickly followed by an order to go and wash his/her face.

Why this big drama, this early in the morning? I often followed up the child's return from the toilet with a question. "Have you had breakfast this morning?" The answer is a predictable "No". Breakfast is probably the most difficult meal for all teenagers. This is a global teenage issue. I am a parent of 4 grown up girls and I have gone through this in the past. None of my girls like to take their meal at 6am in the morning. My third girl, doesn't eat breakfast on purpose. When I asked why, she said she often has to go to the toilet after breakfast. And because, she was ofteh late in coming down for breakfast, she had to visit the toilet in school. Problem is, her teacher NEVER allows her to leave the class that early in the morning. I failed to support her by calling the school about this, let alone going to school to meet the teacher concerned and resolve the problem. On hindsight, it is something I regreted not doing.Being a teacher, I use my disgression in allowing students to vist the toilet. But I digress.
Why is breakfast an important meal - in fact it is THE most important meal of the day? I once received an email with this message:
Eat breakfat like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

Why are students finding it so hard to eat breakfast?


You are what you eat

A healthy diet can have numerous benefits physically and mentally. A good diet may enable you to learn better in school and excel on an emotional and social level successfully. As far as junk food is concerned, a small amount on a rare occasion is allowed. I would try to encourage healthy snacks at least 85-90% of the time. I am a firm believer that parents have the greatest influence on their children. The parents can ultimately shape the child's future in a positive or negative way. Lead by example.