NewsRecord Weekly Publication

Tita Len-len's Wais Tips

By Len-len Pataytay

Kid's Baon

At the start of every school year, parents scuttle to department stores and the school supply chains for bags, notebooks, papers, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, cartolina, envelopes, and brooms! So much attention is given on these things that can all be rendered useless if one important thing does not get the kind and amount of attention it should get.

Many parents today overlook the importance of nutrition for children. Many forget that hungry stomach equals dull brain. And due to the availability of packed snacks that come in different colors, flavors, and packaging, we often think these are the right kind of snacks that will give our school children the energy to sustain them and the brainpower to easily absorb their lessons.

In the long run, however, instead of benefits these colored-flavored snacks give nothing but sugar and can do more harm than good.

Here are practical ideas for children's school day diet. Instead of powdered or juice drinks, freshly squeeze kalamansi, add a little brown sugar (honey is better), for a refreshing beverage. Another option is fresh buko juice which is now popular abroad for its proven nutritional value. Aside from being all-natural, these juices contain less sugar and more nutrients than the artificial juices you can easily grab on grocery counters. Fresh kalamansi juice, aside from being cheap, is packed with natural Vitamin C that boosts a child's, even an adult's, immune system.

Replace sweet, cream-filled biscuits with homemade sandwiches. Children need carbohydrates for energy but these should come in wholesome packages not from sweets and pastries. Using the left-over fried fish or adobo from supper, you can make fish or adobo burger patties with egg and a little flour. Spread some mayonnaise on bread or burger and top with the patty, ripe tomato, and some lettuce, or cheese, and you have carbohydrates and protein in just one big bite.

If making sandwiches and burgers prove to be time-consuming, why not boil sweet potatoes (kamote)? This Filipino root crop is not only sweet but it also contains fiber that aids digestion. To make it even more palatable, boiled sweet potatoes may be served with butter melting on its top.

Fruits are also excellent snacks! The cheapest yet the best the market can offer are bananas. Yes, recent studies show that bananas packed with potassium, carbohydrates, Vitamins B and C among many other nutrients have a hand at longevity. It is a powerful brain battery, immune guard, and aid for digestion.

But we all know kids are super picky. So don't ever try giving them bananas day after day because that is teaching them to hate the power fruit. Vary what is in their lunchboxes depending on the fruit in season.

Giving kids our native delicacies is also a nutritious not to mention culturally beneficial option. Bibingka, puto, budbud, puto kuchinta, among others are our native sweet cravings made of healthy, native ingredients like rice, coconut milk, brown sugar and sesame seeds. Because these are generally sweet, these should not be given everyday but should rather give variety to your school menu.

But, oh! I've been blabbering about snacks when I have not even talked about breakfast.

Sadly, because many parents are now both working, little attention has been given to breakfast. Most modern families content themselves with on-the-go, instant breakfast of cereal drinks and coffee or noodles not knowing that these aren't enough fuel both for work and school.

Kids should be given rice or a carbohydrate alternative like brown bread and whole wheat cereal flakes, and protein sources like eggs and milk.

But many kids loathe milk simply because they detest its taste. There are creative ways of preparing milk so kids would not even know it is actually milk. Blending it with fruits or choco-malt preparations is the trick. The taste is great and there is not a grain of compromise in nutrition.

Sweet breakfast of cakes, pastries and flavored cereals should be avoided as much as processed food like hotdog, chorizo, corned beef, and cooked ham. While plates of these delectable meats have become a stable on the Filipino breakfast table together with sinanlag (fried rice) and itlog (egg), it is important to remember that these are packed with preservatives that have ill effects on the body in the long run. Thus, introduce vegetables cooked creatively (like buttered carrots with string beans and squash) early on the breakfast table so eating 'grass' and organic colors becomes a healthy habit.

Every thing is a matter of moderation and variation especially for the picky kiddy tongue and their always craving belly!