Now that school is starting again soon, many parents are trying to make sure their children are getting a good breakfast and eating well for learning.

But parents also want a fast and convenient meal. This means cereal, toaster pastries and other kinds of quick meals. These meals, while quick, are only part of the needs children have.

Children need a well-balanced meal to prepare for the day. Adults need a good breakfast, too, by the way.

The best way to ensure that children are getting what they need is to get back to the food pyramid. The pyramid has changed since we were kids. You can get an overview of it on mypyramid.gov/kids/. This can help you to figure out not only good foods but good portion sizes.

A good breakfast should include two grain portions, one milk, one meat and one fruit or vegetable portion. This means a simple bowl of cereal is not enough — mainly, because it takes protein to keep the brain functioning and working properly until lunch time.

A great breakfast might be:

• 2 slices of whole grain toast 
• 1 sausage patty 
• 1glass of milk 
• 1 orange 

Or

• 2 toaster pastries with fruit filling 
• 1 scrambled egg 
• 1 glass of milk 

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We have all heard this but not been told why. Your body has been without food at least six to eight hours while we sleep.

One might think that while we sleep nothing is happening, however this is a not true. Our bodies use this time to repair cells, fight disease, grow, process toxins, etc.

The body needs fuel in the morning to get all of our systems back to proper function. Even though our bodies will get used to no breakfast, it is not able to function at maximum capacity until it gets fed.

This is why breakfast is the most important part of the day.