What do you give your 10/11 year old for breakfast?

[cheeseday]

I am really struggling to find healthy breakfast options for my 10 and a half year old daughter.
I usually give 2 pan au chocolate or chocolate crepe or 3 scotch pancakes with margarine or cereal or 2 slices of toast with chocolate spread or peanut butter or jam.

She is over weight and we have started consciously giving healthy home cooked dinner which includes meat or fish and vegetables and of course have not mentioned anything to her but breakfast seems to be our downfall, she likes porridge in the winter but not in the summer.

Also packed lunch tends to be a generic sandwich, yogurt, piece of fruit and crisps.

Was she not having healthy dinners before this?

This is what my 10 year old daughter eats:
Kallo protein lentil cakes with butter and peanut butter or
Homemade porridge with peanut butter , strawberries and a bit of maple syrup or
Beans on brown toast or
Breakfast banana muffins ( 3 eggs,3 bananas, 3dl oats, cinnamon and a little bit of maple syrup) or
Muesli with no added sugar + fruit or berries

2 poached eggs on toast

On lunch, the generic uk packed lunch is really unhealthy as well.
i tend to pack:

• grapes or berries
• cucumber, cherry tomatoes, spinach leaves
• boiled egg or oven baked chicken
• pack of bread sticks or slice or sourdough bread
• yoyo as a treat
• plain yoghurt for oldest (youngest doesn’t like yoghurt)

My DS is currently having 2 weetabix and wholemeal or wholegrain toast with butter.
At the weekend an omelette with toast. He saw a dietician recently for a health issue and they were fine with the weetabix, like pp im not sure why its considered unhealthy..

Prior to this he went through a phase of having natural yoghurt with granola.

Weetabix if we have time. More often than not 2 slices of toast in the car. And a banana or apple.

Please don’t judge my car breakfast 😬

During the week it's 2 Wheatabix with milk, with a few prunes scattered on top, and a drizzle of honey.

Weekends are either boiled eggs with toast, homemade scotch pancakes, homemade crepes or French toast, and occasionally croissants. All with toppings such as butter, peanut butter, jam or golden syrup etc.

My 11 year old has Weetabix or Shreddies or Rice Krispies (original) with milk. But I weigh it out so she only has the correct portion size. It's really easy to go way over the recommended portion size if you just pour into a big bowl.

Good luck!

How are you making your overnight oats?

Porridge mixed with yogurt, I use Oat Pantry flavoured porridge. Or a layer of porridge and milk, layer of yogurt and a topping

A measured amount of oats with yoghurt on top and fruit.

I buy frozen fruit as it's cheaper. Put into the fridge at bedtime and good to next morning.

2 pain au chocolat? Pancakes with marge? What are you thinking?

My 10 year old isn’t a morning person and she has to leave for the bus at 7.20am so finding time for a decent breakfast is tough. There’s no way she’d eat eggs or anything cooked at that time in the morning. She tends to have weetabix, bran flakes or Greek yoghurt with chopped fruit and muesli on top. Not the best but not the worst.

Mine has cereal and a bit of toast with jam and/or peanut butter, or sometimes peanut butter and banana. On the weekends usually a breakfast roll (sausage, egg, potato scone) or a pain au chocolat but that’s definitely not an every day kind of breakfast.

By the way, my son is not a morning eater and a bit fussy, but I don’t think it is reasonable to send a 4 year old to school without anything to eat and he is one of those children who gets grumpy or manic without realising he is hungry and would be massively underweight if I didn’t push him to eat some food, so he often has a cheese sandwich (I limit pain au chocolat to once a week), but I have been known to give him leftover pasta bolognese and broccoli (his favourite!) when it is particularly tricky to get him to really fancy eating anything and he has a long active day ahead of him!

My youngest often has cheese and crackers for breakfast!

Poached/scrambled/boiled eggs with toast.
Porridge with chopped fruit
Weetabix with banana & milk
Wholemeal bagel with scrambled egg & smoked salmon usually on Sunday.

My 11 year old (Y6), makes herself:
smoked salmon/cream cheese bagels/muffin
smashed avocado on toast with tomatoes/olives
full fat Greek yog with chopped fruit/chia/linseed/granola
overnight oats with frozen berries
porridge
scrambled/fried eggs on toast
cheerios/weetabix - rare she’s not a big fan of cereal

she also usually have a banana after and sometimes has a 2nd helping! She rarely snacks and knows to fill up on protein or fruit if she wants something. She is 5,6 with a size 6 foot and in ladies 8/10.

My ten and eleven year olds eat either:

2 pieces whole meal toast with peanut butter.
Or
3 weetbix.

They are extremely active and on the skinny side. One is actually underweight and I’m trying to fatten him up but breakfast in our house is a rushed affair.

I would never give crisps with lunch. They are a treat, not for every day.

I make mine with 40g oats, 80g strawberries/raspberries, muller light yogurt - mix it all up & put in fridge overnight. I guess you may want a smaller portion depending on appetite etc as that’s what I make for myself rather than a child.

That's very tall for a 11 year old.

You probably need to up the protein and the slow absorbed carbs/fibre especially if they are overweight
If mine ate that, they'd be ravenous mid morning.
My 11 yo likes Greek yoghurt with vanilla protein powder and frozen berries or cherries. I sometimes make healthy waffles which we can pop in the freezer which they can then top with some fruit and yoghurt. It keeps them full for hours.

Id also look at lunch and up the protein in the sandwich, include some veggies too and try to reduce the crisps so its not a full pack or every day.

These small swaps will help a lot to get the calories down but nutritional quality up and keeping your dc satisfied.

I was thinking that, my 11 year old is 4ft11!

I'm blessed with non-fussy kids, but I think breakfast is the hardest meal. My kids (9 and 11) eat well but often give me the thousand yard stare when I ask them what they want for breakfast.

I generally manage with porridge most days in the winter which is great as it's easy and you can always add fruit and peanut butter for nutrition.

Home made banana pancakes are very easy- just 2 mashed bananas, 200 grams flour (I use half wholemeal half white) and an egg, about 150 ml of milk, teaspoon cinnamon. You can fry them with scant oil if you wish, I use a knob of butter. They need no extra sweetening. You can also make them in advance, pop them in the fridge and then just stick them in an air fryer for 3 minutes. Serve with more sliced bananas and some plain Greek yoghurt, a drizzle of honey if you've a sweet tooth.

Overnight oats have been a recent hit and they've been more likely to eat them if they join in. We have been making them for 3 with 150 grams oats 100 ml water 100 ml milk or yoghurt, 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon maple syrup person, and about 100 grams of frozen forest fruits. It's very healthy and filling and not high calorie but it feels a bit decadent/like the black forest gateaux of oats.

On busy/disorganised mornings they generally have

• greek yoghurt with fruit and a drizzle of honey.
• bran flakes, milk and sliced banana
• bran flakes, yoghurt, fruit
• peanut butter and banana on toast or in a wrap with a drizzle of honey

I also make healthier cakes for breakfast! Things like banana bread but I replace most of the fat with fat free yoghurt and I reduce the sugar. Very easy to make in the food processor, my current recipe is- 2 bananas, 60 ml oil, 100 grams fat-free greek yoghurt, 100 grams sugar, 250 grams self raising flour, 2 eggs, 80 grams sultanas, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 1 tablespoon of Demerara sugar. Save the flour and basically just whizz all the other ingredients up in a food processor. When they are smooth add your flour and blend until just mixed. Put in your lined loaf tin and sprinkle the demerara on top. Bake for around 40 minutes at 180. This makes 12 slices that come in at just under 200 calories each. Genuinely takes no time at all and the kids are always willing to eat it... Might have sugar but not highly processed and low in fat/higher in protein than most cakes.

Only on MN are we having avocado, eggs, bacon for breakfast, pancakes (assuming they are being made and not ready bought)

Summer was cereal with bananas after or toast.

Weekends they could have fry up, yogurt and chopped fruit, pancakes etc.

Winter was normally ready brek and then progressed to porridge oats with honey or nutella which they still eat now as later teens.