Bala Bhagavat, CEO of Education World India, recently sat down with SPARK’s very own Paul Rosengard to talk about the state of Physical Education in the US and around the world:

Bala: “Why is a structured PE and sports important in the school environment when US and Canadian cities have lot of free open playgrounds and parks for children and families?”

Paul: “This is an opportunity to differentiate physical activity (PA) and physical education (PE).  Young people need PA and unstructured play time, and the open playgrounds, parks, and other environments that you cite, enable and encourage PA, and thus, are vitally important.

Young people also need structured time in PE (taught by a properly credentialed and well-trained instructor) which is typically unavailable anywhere beyond the school setting.  PE is based on specific standards and benchmarks usually linked to age and grade level, and presented through sequential and progressive building blocks of compelling content and differentiated instruction.

PA is a component of PE however, studies show not all PE classes provide enough PA (insufficient frequency, duration, or intensity) to positively impact a child’s health.  Therefore, it should not be presumed that providing PE also provides adequate PA.  PE classes should be monitored to ensure students are engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at least 50% of class time.

Habits of wellness, particularly around behavior change techniques, are critical to teach young people so they can learn to be responsible for their own health (self-management) and understand how to maintain acceptable levels of PA throughout their lifetimes.

There is lot of PE and sports curriculum and lesson plans available on the web. Can a school use these as part of their formal curriculum?

There are and it’s terrific to have supplemental resources.  We encourage people to screen optional content before using by asking themselves if the activity is:

• S =Safe:  Emotionally and physically?
• E = Enjoyable
• A = Active
• D = Developmentally appropriate:  Aligned with standards, age, grade level?

These criteria are simple.  “Nurture the SEAD” and provide children with activity opportunities that are rich and relevant.

On-line, free activities should not be considered a worthy substitute or adequate replacement for research and standards based curriculum written in scope and sequence.  Rather it should be considered a supplemental addendum. “

Bala: “There seems to be shortage of Physical education teachers worldwide. Why do you think it is? What are the consequences? How do we address this problem?”

Paul: “Most people believe it’s a lack of money – although I’m not sure it’s a money problem entirely.  Perhaps it’s a priority problem?  There is money in any budget, however small and impacted it may be.  Ultimately, every budget I a pie that has to be divided.  My contention is that PE deserves a slice; maybe not the biggest slice, but it should be funded at the level of any other core subject.  Physical education is the only discipline that supports every content area – because the data strongly show that healthy kids are better learners.

Drawing the direct link between PA, quality PE, and academic learning is one way to garner support.  Another is to link PA and PE to healthcare costs.  A third is daily attendance.  There is strong data to show that healthier and more fit kids miss less school.  Schools often receive funds based (in part) by the numbers of students that attend each day (ADA = Average Daily Attendance).  Improving ADA means more money for education.”

Bala: “What in your opinion changes year to year that require a PE teacher to take refresher courses regularly?”

Paul: “My colleague Dr. Thom McKenzie says, ‘Professional development is not an inoculation, it’s a flu shot.’  It must be done regularly over time and teachers should be constantly driven to improve their craft.  There are skills to attain and polish and it does not matter if a teacher is relatively new or a veteran of many years.  Additionally, there is always new content, new approaches, and new technologies that can improve content and instruction.  Systematic professional development should also be linked to specific learning and performance objectives and teacher evaluations.  What is assessed is done.”

Bala: “How did SPARK PE manage to reach 10,000 schools?”

Paul: “Actually, we typically sell approx.. 12,000-19,000 curriculum manuals annually and train over 20,000 teachers in the U.S. alone.  We’re certain we’ve conducted full day (or more) workshops for well over 100,000 teachers since 1989.  How many schools that’s been we’re uncertain.  Moving SPARK from 8 schools in the original research study to where we are today is a combination of many factors, but the one I’ll cite is we’ve been fortunate to develop a team of passionate content experts, teacher trainers, and support staff and we’re very proud of everyone that helps us improve the health of kids everyday – our team and the teams of educators we have the pleasure of working with.  This moves beyond the U.S. and we’re particularly grateful to our friends in India who are helping us achieve our dream of SPARKing up more kids around the world.”

Bala: “What is your view on physical education and schools in India?”

Paul: “I wish I had first-hand experience at schools there to watch the children and view their teachers.  From what I understand, they have done an excellent job of adhering to SPARK protocols — and that’s reassuring.  We feel strongly that if teachers instruct SPARK the way we wrote it and use the instructional strategies we’ve developed, their children will be more active, fit, skilled, and enjoy PE more than traditional approaches.  Fidelity is key, and our friends in India who are running point on SPARK dissemination there have developed very systematic and monitored methodologies that foster fidelity.  Their strategies are enabling positive student health-related outcomes, and that makes me very happy and grateful for their efforts.”

By Paul Rosengard

In January, I had the pleasure of attending the “Health Matters” summit in Indian Wells, CA sponsored by the Clinton Foundation.  They assembled a number of terrific speakers and panelists — a rich blend of scientists, business people who care about health and wellness, celebrities and VIP’s who actually walk the talk.

We owe our thanks to the Clinton Foundation for their genuine commitment to public health and future generations.  They’ve been gracious supporters of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation — an organization SPARK has worked with since their inception — that does terrific work helping schools develop more effective wellness policies and programs.

The wonderful Annika Sorenstam, our SPARK advocate and spokesperson, and Don Ochsenreiter (Executive Director) of the ANNIKA Foundation were there as well.  We’re grateful to Annika for mentioning SPARK and the terrific work we do together during her presentation during the session titled, “Building Healthier Communities.”

Howell Wechsler is the Director of DASH (Division of Adolescent and School Health) at CDC.  Wendy and I spoke with him the evening before he presented and we were laughing about his having only 3 min. to address the audience.  Howell spent a lot more than 3 min. trying to figure out what to say and told us he had his talk down to 5 min. and 20 seconds…

The next day his panel was moderated by Hillary Clinton during the section titled, “Raise the Bar for Healthy Schools.”  I thought Howell’s comments were terrific and want to share them with you.  Please help us spread the good word and pay this forward:

1.  Schools have got to be greatly involved in activating wellness.

- Young people face many health problems (obesity, teen pregnancy, violence, etc.).

- Schools did not create these problems and should not be expected to solve them on their own.

- But we can’t solve these problems without schools playing a strong role.

2.  Promoting health needs to be a fundamental part of the mission of schools.

- This notion is deeply rooted in American history.

- But it has been forgotten by many of today’s educators and policymakers.

- They obsess over standardized test scores to the exclusion of all else that is important for our young people.

- So school health programs are increasingly marginalized and typically among first things cut.

- Even though there is a strong and growing body of evidence documenting the links between student health and academic achievement and the positive impact that school health programs have on academic achievement.

3.  We know what needs to be done.

- We could always benefit from more research.

- But the truth is that we already have a ton of knowledge about exactly what schools need to do to have a strong impact on the health of students.

- The problem is a failure to implement that which we know works.

- CDC and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and others have tools that lay out a clear agenda of effective health promotion practices for schools.

- We know what needs to be done.  The science is strong.

4.  Promoting health needs to be integrated into school accountability requirements.

- It is not enough to do nice events like health fairs or fun runs.

- For those celebrities, sports stars, corporate leaders who want to help, dropping in for pretty photo ops is not going to lead to lasting improvements in students’ health behaviors.

- And we cannot depend on principals and teachers spontaneously embracing health promotion when all the pressures and incentives from above push in the other direction.

- We will only make progress if we systematically build into school governing practices strong accountability measures that require or incentivize schools to support health policies and programs.

- Measures such as requiring schools to include health objectives as part of their state-mandated school improvement plans, having health councils and health coordinators, conducting science-based assessments of their health policies and practices.

- To have meaningful impact, we’ve got to make these kinds of systemic changes.

5.  No progress will be made unless all of us speak up.

- As parents, students, teachers, health care workers, corporate leaders, as Americans…we all have an immense capacity to influence educational policies and practices in our communities and beyond.

- Everyone in this room probably agrees that schools should do more to promote health.

- But across the Nation, many of the people making decisions about school policies don’t get it.

- So it is up to all of us to cite the scientific evidence, and to speak loudly and strongly so those policy makers will understand that it is no longer acceptable to marginalize and cut school health programs.

- We will not make progress in activating wellness for the next generation unless we all speak up.

Looking for the perfect gift for that “active” person/people in your life? Ellen Ormsby, SPARK’s East Coast Program Representative, marathon runner and all-around fitness expert, shares the top 3 “fitness” items on her holiday gift list…

TRX Suspension Trainer Pro: Uses body weight for multi-functional workouts. Simple suspension system, includes two 1-1/2″ web straps, adjustable from 6′ to 12′ (1.8 to 3.6m) with durable carabiners. Includes fitness guide. Adjust your body angle from the suspension rigging to create workouts for core, upper body, arms, legs, balance, or flexibility. Attach to permanent fixtures, pull-up bars, weight racks, or the Sportime Suspension System. Click Here for more information and to purchase.

Aeromat Dual Color Exercise Foam Roller: Made of durable EVA foam material that maintains its shape. Great for core training and improves body alignment and flexibility. Light weight, resistant to moisture and easy to clean. 6” diameter x 12”. Orange/Blue. Click Here for more information and to purchase.

EcoWise Essential Yoga/Pilates Mat: EcoWise Essential Yoga/Pilates Mat Performance texture for good drip. Environmentally friendly closed-cell foam, with soft surface to enhance comfort of floor exercises. Latex, PVC, phthalates and chloride free. Easy to clean and maintain. Measure 72″ x 23″ x 1/4″ thick (183cm x 58.4cm). Rolls up for storage and transport. Green. Click Here for more information and to purchase.

Last month we held a contest for SPARKfamily.org members to submit their favorite Holiday Tag activity for a chance to win and iPod. We had some amazing submissions, and we’ve posted the top 20 of them on SPARKfamily.org!

However, for those of you that aren’t SPARKfamily.org members yet, we wanted to share some of the good ideas with you as well. So we decided to share 7 of those great lesson plans with you, just in time for the holiday season.

Click Here to view the 7 “Holiday Tag” lesson plans presented in SPARK’s “Ready, Set, Go!” format.

The following recipe is from Bernadette Garcia-Roger, Master Trainer for the SPARK Early Childhood program:

Bernadette’s Holiday Butternut Squash Casserole

Here’s one of my favorite comfort food dishes for the holidays. I love this because it’s a bit more healthy with the squash (seasonal vegetable) added in. I’ve made this quite often and there are never any leftovers! Ricotta and pureed squash give this familiar dish its creaminess.

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients

1 small butternut squash (about 1 pound), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)

1 cup homemade or low-sodium canned chicken stock, skimmed of fat

1 1/2 cups nonfat milk

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of cayenne pepper

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound elbow macaroni

4 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated (about 1 cup)

4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated (1 ounce)

2 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon olive oil

Olive-oil, cooking spray

1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine squash, stock, and milk in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until squash is tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Mash contents of saucepan; stir in nutmeg, cayenne, and salt, and season with black pepper. Stir to combine.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles; cook until al dente according to package instructions, about 8 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl; stir in squash mixture, cheddar, ricotta, and 2 tablespoons Parmesan.
• Lightly coat a 9-inch square baking dish (4 inches deep) with cooking spray. Transfer noodle mixture to dish. In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and oil; sprinkle evenly over noodle mixture.
• Cover with foil, and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil, and continue baking until lightly browned and crisp on top, 30 to 40 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Children learn from the influences around them. Part of growing up is creating the habits that will follow your children throughout their lifetimes and shape them as they mature. Instilling a healthy lifestyle in your children when they are young can help build the framework for an entire lifetime of healthy habits.

Here are 10 ways lead your children toward a healthy lifestyle:

1. Eat at least one meal a day as a family
   Eating at least one meal a day as a family ensures that your child is making healthy choices during that time of the day. This also gives you the opportunity to lead by example and use the opportunity to teach your children about food choices and healthy portion sizes. By modeling healthy cooking habits in the home, you are helping transfer your choices into your child’s lifelong habits.
2. Get your children outside and involved
   This is another area where you can create these healthy lifestyle habits as a family. Play games in the yard, go on hikes, and just get outside. Playing ball with your kids or involving them in sports not only helps instill a healthy lifestyle, but it also helps them develop coordination and important social skills they can’t learn by sitting in front of a television. Teaching your children the joys of sports early can help them find their talents and teach them to appreciate exercise as a form of fun, not something to be abhorred.
3. Turn off the technology
   With technology at every turn, it’s hard to pull your family away from the tube, the computer screen, the phones, the video games, the iPads, and all of the other gadgets that are such a part of everyday life. But getting your children out of their seats and aware of the world around them helps them become more self-aware in mind and body. Communicating in-person with other children and adults establishes social skills that can’t be learned online and are essential for a successful future.
4. Stack on the support
   Talking positively, encouraging your children, and rewarding them with good behavior helps reinforce good behavior and healthy habits. When your children choose to be active, learn about a topic, choose a healthy snack or get involved with others, positively reinforce these actions by supporting your child and making sure that their good choices are noticed and applauded. This helps build your child’s self-confidence and can help create a strong future leader.
5. Ask them to participate
   Teach your children healthy lifestyle habits by having them help create them in your own home. Let them help grocery shop for healthy lunches, send thank-you notes and holiday cards to friends and family, keep up the house, and make decisions. Teaching your children to make the right choices for the family can help them understand everything that goes into creating a positive atmosphere.
6. Focus on extracurricular activities
   Extracurricular activities give your children a chance to make new friends, explore new skills and talents, and increase their self-confidence. A healthy lifestyle includes socializing, enhancing skills, learning new talents, and achieving goals. Extracurricular activities allow your child to explore these areas of healthy living in a safe and nurturing environment with children of their own age. They can also develop lasting friendships and learn from other children.
7. Teach them responsibility
   Giving your child responsibilities is an important building block for future success. Giving your child responsibilities early teaches them ownership and how to complete tasks required of them, as well as consequences.  Giving your child the responsibility of planning their snacks or lunches, or planning breakfast for the family gives them the opportunity to take ownership, and also allows you the opportunity to correct their choices along the way.
8. Never use food as a reward
   With the fattening of America, it’s incredibly important these days to watch how your children are relating to food. Without the built-in exercise of yesteryear and technology creating a sedentary lifestyle as the norm, making sure that you are instilling a healthy relationship with food starts with making good choices in the way you present it to your children. Using food as a reward is one way to create food motivation, which can be detrimental if your child grows up seeing food as a special reward and was not taught how to limit this reward.
9. Lead by example
   One of the best ways to instill a healthy lifestyle in your children is to lead one yourself. Children are constantly picking up on our habits and behaviors, and parents are seen as role models whose habits should be taken after. Make sure that you are active, healthy, and also explore activities, socializing, and other interests outside of work.
10. Expose them to good influences
    The more positive your child’s environment, the more positive your child’s outlook will tend to be. Exposing your child to a positive environment with positive role models, healthy food options, outside activities and intriguing mental challenges can help them become more positive individuals, which in turn will help them make choices that perpetuate a healthy outlook and a healthy lifestyle.
11. Make sure their school offers daily, quality Physical Education
    Quality physical education programs are needed to increase the physical competence, health-related fitness, self-responsibility and enjoyment of physical activity for all students so that they can be physically active for a lifetime. Physical education programs can only provide these benefits if they are well-planned and well-implemented. And consistent! For more information on how to implement an evidence-based quality Physical Education program in your school visit http://www.sparkpe.org/what-is-spark/

Thanksgiving is that wonderful holiday where you give thanks to friends, family, and good health. The highlight of Thanksgiving is, of course, the bountiful, indulgent feast. This year, however, you might want to forego the customary dishes for something a little healthier. While straying from the turkey smothered in gravy, foods glistening with butter, and overly sweet desserts remains an incredibly difficult task, you can still have a delicious Thanksgiving dinner that is healthy—keep reading to learn how.

Considering the Turkey

The turkey is the centerpiece of any Thanksgiving feast, but meat lovers don’t have to worry. As it turns out, turkey is quite healthy and a great source of lean protein. Contrary to popular belief, the skin is not all bad. According to Lilian Cheung of Harvard’s School of Public Health, while the skin might add more calories, it actually contains the unsaturated fat that your body needs. However, you may want to stick with the white meat; dark meat contains twice as much fat.

The only real problems with the turkey are your portion sizes, what you put on your turkey, and how it’s cooked. While deep-frying might be the hottest new way to dish up Thanksgiving goodness, slow baking in the oven is a much healthier option.

Toppings

Typical gravy contains high amounts of fat and sodium and tons of calories, making it a horrible choice for your body. But what are turkey and mashed potatoes without gravy? For a flavor-packed (and even vegan) gravy, check out this recipe. Those family members who scoff at the word “vegan” won’t even know there is no animal fat in it unless you tell them. Some other options include the following:

• As an alternative, you may want to consider seasoned yogurt. Yogurt contains high amounts of calcium and protein. To get the best health benefits, purchase yogurt made from low-fat or non-fat milk. Add fresh herbs and seasonings to complement the savory turkey flavor.
• Another possible alternative is cream of chicken or mushroom soup, which actually tastes quite similar to gravy. However, make sure to buy low sodium and reduced calorie varieties. Dilute the soup a bit with some vegetable stock to gain the same consistency as gravy.
• When it comes to healthy toppings on your turkey, nothing beats cranberry sauce. Cranberries are naturally rich in antioxidants and are great for your heart and your brain. Prepare your own cranberry sauce to make it healthier than what is sold in stores, which are often high in sugars and preservatives.

Sides

Many of the traditional sides are already fairly healthy, depending on how you prepare them.

• Sweet potatoes are packed with flavor and nutrition. They are a great source of potassium, fiber, vitamin C, and beta carotene, which turns into vitamin A. The best part about sweet potatoes is that they’re already quite sweet and flavorful. Try to cut down on the sugar and marshmallows. Just roasting a sweet potato is enough to caramelize the sugars inside and bring out the sweetness.
• Green beans are naturally low in calories. In fact, a cup of green beans only has about 35 calories. While you could go the ultra-healthy route and eat green beans whole with some olive oil, lemon, and garlic, casseroles get the seal of Thanksgiving approval. Try this healthy green bean casserole recipe, which nixes canned soup and canned green beans, and packs plenty of fresh, savory flavors.
• Stuffing tends to be one of the most versatile side dishes on the table. Add in plenty of vegetables. Use whole wheat bread and whole grains like quinoa or barley. Drizzle some of that vegan gravy over the top for a forkful of bliss!

Dessert

Dessert just might be the best part of the meal, but it is usually the unhealthiest. Lots of sweets mean high sugar and calories—and the dreaded too-much-sugar stomach ache.

The staple of Thanksgiving dessert is pumpkin pie. Pumpkin itself is a great source of vitamins A and C, potassium, and beta carotene. It is also low in fat and calories (only about 25 calories in half a cup). However, when mingling with other pie ingredients, those health benefits seem to disappear.

To modify the traditional recipe for health, consider using evaporated skim milk instead of whole milk. Cut back on the butter by about a half and reduce the sugar by a third.

Another traditional and equally popular alternative is pecan pie. Pecans are a healthy source of monounsaturated fat, which lowers bad cholesterol levels. They are also a great source of fiber, but a slice of traditional pecan pie, containing corn syrup and sugar, can easily contain 500 calories. If you can’t do without the pie, try cutting down on the sugar and using a whole grain pie crust.

Chocolate pie is also popular at the Thanksgiving table. You can make a healthy version by melting ¾ cup of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips over a double broiler, and tossing it in the blender with a half cup of all natural peanut butter, a couple tablespoons of soy or nonfat milk, and a 12oz container of silken tofu. Blend it well (until there are no lumps), and pour into a pie crust. You can make one yourself by combining 20 or 30 crushed graham crackers or wafers with melted margarine or butter, and pressing the mixture into a pie pan. Bake for 8 minutes at 375˚, and voila—pie crust (don’t bake the filling, just pour it in after the crust has baked). Be sure to chill the pie for at least one hour.

Regardless of how you modify your dishes, have fun experimenting with some healthier versions before Turkey Day to ensure no stress. Play some backyard games like football to stay active and, above all, enjoy the food and the people you are with!

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photo courtesy of tsuacctnt

The holidays are full of delicious feasts, turkey dinners, and tantalizing sweets left and right. Add on top of that the inherent sense of laziness that comes with vacation, and finding a chance to exercise feels impossible and nearly useless.

Just 30 minutes of activity each day can keep your weight gain under control. Exercise also relieves stress, which you might be experiencing a lot of during the holidays, and makes you feel better about yourself. But exercise doesn’t have to be something exhausting or strenuous, and there are plenty of fun ways to keep yourself and the kids active during the holidays.

Making Time

During the holidays, it’s easy to find your schedule full of activities. For those with busy schedules, the best plan of action is to make exercise the first thing on your agenda. Working out first thing in the morning helps make exercise a priority. Working out in the evening can prove difficult because you have places to go and people to see—and plenty of time throughout the day to come up with excuses for why you can’t exercise.
Remember, just 30 minutes a day is enough to keep in shape. If you have trouble finding time, try to spread those 30 minutes into three 10-minute workouts over the course of the day. Ten minutes is enough for a simple workout routine that includes jogging, jumping jacks, jump rope, or weights.

Out for a Walk

Walking is a low-impact activity that offers limited strain, making it great for everyone in the family. The great thing about walking is that it can be done just about anywhere: the mall, the local high school track, a parking lot, or just around the block. During those holiday shopping trips, park a little further away to extend the amount of walking you have to do (and avoid fighting over parking with other holiday shoppers).

Get creative and include your family. Take a nature walk during the day and explore the natural beauty around you. If the area is familiar enough, you can set up a scavenger hunt for the little ones. After an especially filling dinner, take a walk around the block with the family. You can stay active while taking a look at all of the holiday decorations in the neighborhood.

Incorporating Chores

We have all experienced the tiring effects of doing chores around the house. As strange as it might seem, doing those tedious chores is also a great way to burn some calories. Grab a shovel and clear that snow in your driveway, or rake those leaves scattered across the front yard.

Just walking around your house can be considered a physical activity:

• Walk up and down the steps
• Carry your laundry
• Sweep the floor
• Clean those windows (yes—even the top corners!)

Aside from burning some calories, these activities will help your home look clean and tidy and leave you more room for holiday fun.

Holiday Activities

While some people assume “physical activity” means sweating it out at the gym, many of the fun holiday activities you do with your family could quite easily be exercise.

Spending an evening out ice skating is sure to get your heart pumping, but you might not even notice with all the fun you’re having (or the falling you might be doing). The same could be said of skiing and snowboarding, both of which are great workouts for your legs and heart.

Even more unconventional holiday activities could help you burn some calories. Going out for an evening of caroling is a classic way to spread the holiday cheer while getting your butt off the couch. A holiday dance party will keep everyone happy, moving, and grooving for hours on end.

Playing in the Snow

Snow doesn’t fall in all parts of the United States, but it can make for some fun physical activities if you find yourself in a winter wonderland.

• Making a snowman (or snowwoman) takes a lot of work, exercising your muscles and your heart perfectly.
• Gather your family and friends for a good old-fashioned snow ball fight. All of that running, ducking, and throwing burns several hundred calories per hour. Keep it safe—no hard-packed snowballs, no ice, and faces are off limits.
• Even making snow angels works out your upper and lower body.
• Sledding is great because in order to enjoy the fun of flying down the hill, you have to walk up first—and everyone will want several turns. Add challenge by making your own trail up the hill. The resistance of walking through untouched snow offers a great workout!

Don’t Be Too Hard on Yourself

As important as working out is, understand that the holidays are here, and that means spending time with your family and friends. When it comes to your well-being, it’s important to keep a proper balance between your social activities and your physical care. Be sure to squeeze in some fun physical activity, but make sure you enjoy every moment of the holiday season, too.

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photo courtesy of D. Sharon Pruitt

Do your kids eat breakfast before school? Maybe sometimes they grab something on the way out the door. Or maybe they eat breakfast at school. With bus schedules and work commutes and everything in between, sometimes “healthy” gets overlooked and “convenient” wins the race. The fact is, kids’ brains and bodies need breakfast to “break” the overnight “fast.”

Whether breakfast comes from home, or at school, kids need to be well-nourished so they can perform well everywhere they live, learn, and play. So here are 3 tips for healthy school-year breakfasts – at school and at home.

1) GO Power! Eating breakfast helps wake you up and gives energy to keep you going!

Drink a small glass of orange juice at home. Take along whole grain cereal squares in a baggie and a low fat yogurt container with a spoon to eat as you go.

2) BRAIN Power! Eating breakfast wakes up your brain to make school easier!

Try a whole grain bagel half spread with peanut butter and a banana.

3) HEALTH Power! Breakfast eaters have better intake of nutrients – to stay well and feel great!

Try low fat string cheese, whole grain crackers and an apple.

For more ideas like these, see Quick & Easy Breakfast Ideas