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Blog post written by Joshua Edwards, IUPUI Dietetic Intern  Image from www.kidspot.com.au/kitchen/galleries/16-breakfast-ideas-kids-love/ey55dbfv School is a very important part of children’s lives. Children usually spend 13 years on education in the typical K-12 school. We know that parents and caregivers want their children to put their best foot forward and get as much out of this time as possible. To do this, every child should start their day with a delicious and healthy breakfast meal. Research has shown that children have better academic success when they eat breakfast before school than when they do not. We do not want to send our children to school when they are too hungry to learn. If breakfast at the home is not an option, try enrolling your student in the breakfast program at your school. Many schools participate in a program to provide free or reduced price breakfast and lunches for eligible families. This post will discuss the benefits of eating breakfast, including improved concentration, better test scores, increased energy, and better attendance. It will also provide tips for quick breakfast meals and recipes. Improving Concentration Students who do not eat breakfast in the morning may have difficulty concentrating. They tend to be more distracted by their peers, and have a harder time retaining information than students who eat breakfast. A healthy breakfast provides nutrients that the brain needs to function properly. It also helps children focus on learning and engaging at school rather than on their rumbling stomach.  Image from allroundclub.com/blog/critical-thinking/ Better Test Scores A research study published in the Journal of Economics showed that students who ate breakfast scored an average of 25% better on tests in math, reading, and science than students who did not eat breakfast. Researchers concluded that this was due to the students receiving the proper nutrition for brain function and thinking. Increased Energy During sleep, our blood sugar drops because our body works to remove sugar from the bloodstream and we go many hours without eating. When we do not eat breakfast, our blood sugar continues to stay low and can even fall lower. Low blood sugar can make us feel tired, sluggish, or in a fog. All of these traits are not ideal for someone trying to learn. By eating a healthy, nutrient-rich breakfast, a student's blood sugar will rise to a healthy level. This helps them feel energized and focused. However, this does not mean that high-sugar breakfasts are better. It is important to eat a variety of food groups to get all the nutrients that growing minds need.  Image from www.webmd.com/parenting/features/how-play-time-outside-helps-kids Improved Attendance Students who do not eat breakfast tend to also have weaker immune systems. This means they are more susceptible to illness and missing school days. Students who skip breakfast are also more likely to skip class to go to the nurse for a headache or stomachache due to hunger. Overall, eating breakfast has so many benefits to students. It is very important that children are able to receive proper nutrition in the morning - either from their home or from the school - so they can have the most productive day possible. Quick Breakfast Tips Making breakfast in advance is the number 1 tip for making a quick breakfast. By preparing food the night before and only needing to reheat it in the morning, you can save tons of time and energy in the morning. Some examples of easy breakfast meals that can be stored and reheated later are:
Other ideas for easy and budget-friendly breakfasts:
Visit our Recipes page for more healthy recipe ideas for every meal!  Image from www.andianne.com/6-overnight-oat-recipes-you-should-know-for-easy-breakfasts/ Sources
Hello! My name is Emily Korte and I am Gleaners’ 2021 Summer Nutrition Intern. Over the past few months, I have worked with Sarah Wilson, RDN to create and facilitate kids' nutrition education lessons for our Summer Nutrition Club (SNC) program. SNC was created in 2018 as a supplement to Gleaners' summer feeding program in Marion County. In addition to providing nutritious food to local families, we wanted to offer an interactive nutrition education opportunity to get youth excited about the impact food can have on their health and wellbeing. COVID-19 has continued to impact every aspect of Gleaners’ operations and SNC was no exception. To ensure the safety of our community, virtual and in-person lessons were offered to our partners. We were very fortunate that three sites welcomed us back in-person (while wearing masks and being socially distanced of course), and a fourth virtually. It was wonderful to once again hear all the giggles, watch faces fill with joy, and share a passion for learning in-person together. I am very grateful for this amazing experience and am looking forward to becoming a Registered Dietitian in the future!  Emily Korte, Summer Nutrition Intern, with Rainforest Energy Bites. In the past, the SNC lessons focused on the five food groups of MyPlate, making healthy choices, and general health and wellness. This year’s lessons followed the same model while also incorporating new themes to encourage exploration. All of the recipes required no baking, contained simple ingredients, and featured kid-friendly cooking concepts to allow for their participation. These themes were brought to life through fun and engaging activities in each of the three weekly lessons. In a world where we are so often told "no", we were able to tell the children "YES". Yes, you can try a new food! Yes, you make your own snack! Yes, you can sometimes have sweet treats! I wanted the children to be open to learning about new cultures, new ideas, and new foods. I wanted them to be able to experience Asia, the Amazon rainforest, and space, all without even leaving Indianapolis. My goal was for participants to gain independence, confidence, and knowledge about how they can positively impact their health. This summer, all of this and more was accomplished at Summer Nutrition Club! The recipes, learning concepts, and themes that were covered in this year's program included: 1. MyPlate Around the World - Introduced foods found across Asia and where they fit in MyPlate, featured a highlight on how to use chopsticks, and made Cucumber "Sushi" Roll-Ups
SNC "Nutrition Explorers" try eating their Cucumber Roll-Ups with chopsticks 2. It’s a Jungle Out There! - Introduced different sources of protein foods and whole grains, explored animals and the layers of the Amazon rainforest, and tried Rainforest Energy Bites
SNC participants roll their Rainforest Energy Bites into fun (and tasty) shapes 3. Discover Dairy - Introduced dairy foods and how scientists modify food so it can be eaten in space, featured an activity to promote physical activity, and made Astronaut Pudding
The SNC "Nutrition Explorers" thought the Astronaut Pudding was out of this world! Each child that participated in SNC got to take home a reusable shopping bag filled with tools to help them continue being a "nutrition explorer". Items in the bag included a spatula, vegetable peeler, cutting board, colander, reusable storage bag, MyPlate, and more! The summer came to a close with a Family Cooking Night. Westminster Neighborhood Services welcomed us back to demonstrate how to prepare a meal that the whole family could enjoy. The featured recipes were Veggie Quesadillas and Chunky Mango Pico. This meal supplies a serving of all five food groups and is quick, easy, and affordable to prepare. I demonstrated how to cut all fruits and vegetables including mango, zucchini, pepper, onion, jalapeno, and cucumber. I also provided general cooking tips. Westminster provided ingredients to each family in attendance so they could make the recipes at home. Gleaners supplemented these items with fresh produce and kitchen utensils for each household, as well as a few raffle prizes to give away!
Emily prepares samples for Family Cooking Night The summer of 2021 certainly brought a unique set of challenges. However, due to assistance from Gleaners’ staff, my wildest dreams were able to come to life to make Summer Nutrition Club a success. I learned more from the children this summer than any nutrition textbook could teach me. I am forever grateful for this opportunity and hope my small input can make a larger impact on the health and wellbeing of this community! Gleaners’ 2020 and 2021 SNC lesson content is available year-round on the Summer Nutrition Club page for anyone interested - feel free to check it out and share with others!  Thank you to all the wonderful community sites who hosted us for Summer Nutrition Club this year!
This blog post was written by Kursten Nisonger, IUPUI Dietetic Intern Have you ever heard of “Eating the Rainbow” when it comes to adding more fruits and vegetables into your diet? This means filling your plate with every color of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. There are benefits to including all of these colors into your diet that can improve your health in the long run! This month is National Fruits and Veggies Month (#NFVM) and we want to get the message out about increasing fruit and veggie consumption! Each color corresponds to a specific health benefit of eating the fruit or vegetable:
 Photo from trilliumhealthresources.org As you can see, eating every color of the rainbow is good for your health! Fruits and vegetables also include important vitamins and minerals that your body needs, such as:
 Photo from fruitsandveggies.org It is important to eat many different fruits and veggies to help keep our bodies healthy and working properly. Try to eat 1-2 cups of fruits and 1-3 cups of vegetables every day, depending on your age and calorie level. You can also use MyPlate as a guide by filling half of your plate with a rainbow of fruits and veggies.
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Hi everyone! My name is Lydia Conner, and I am the Summer Nutrition Intern at Gleaners Food Bank for the second year in a row. This summer was much different from the last two years of Summer Nutrition Club due to COVID-19. To keep everyone safe, Gleaners staff and partnering sites tried out virtual programming for the first time. While it has been a unique summer, this has been a valuable experience for me as I take my next steps toward becoming a dietitian.  Lydia Conner, Summer Nutrition Intern, with one of this year's tasty recipes Over the past few months, I have been working with Sarah Wilson, Gleaners’ Nutrition Manager and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, to navigate lesson content creation. Last summer’s lessons were focused on the five food groups of MyPlate, trying new fruits and vegetables, and interactive group activities. This year’s lessons built upon those concepts to involve children and families in growing fruits and vegetables, choosing healthy options, and preparing balanced meals together. Each of the three lessons featured kid-friendly cooking skills and healthy recipes that used foods from the Gleaners family meal boxes and produce boxes. As a bonus, the kids had the chance to follow along in weekly garden updates of my family’s garden, and I was able to show them how to incorporate some of our fresh produce into the recipes!  This child from Westminster Neighborhood Center was excited about participating in Summer Nutrition Club! The recipes for each week were:
The lessons also included basic garden care tips, a Fruit & Vegetable Musical Chairs Game, and a Plant & Animal Protein Activity. Overall, the objectives were to show the children where some of their food can come from and encourage them to choose a variety of foods from each food group. The summer came to a close with two Virtual Family Cooking Classes on Facebook Live: one on how to make zucchini boats and the other on how to make homemade pizza. My family had lots of zucchini coming out of our garden this summer, and it was put to great use for several different zucchini boat recipe variations. For the pizza recipe, I demonstrated how to make an easy homemade pizza dough, topping it with fresh veggies. The tomatoes and green peppers were fresh out of my family’s garden! I also provided tips for parents to include their children in the recipe preparation from preparing zucchini boats, measuring ingredients, topping the zucchini boats, and topping the pizzas.  The finished pizza from our second Virtual Family Cooking Class on Facebook Live The recipes and recorded videos from each lesson and virtual family cooking class were posted on the Gleaners NutritionHub website and Facebook page. Links to this content were then emailed to each of the 30 Indianapolis community sites that received food boxes from Gleaners this summer. We were lucky to work with some wonderful site coordinators who went above and beyond to teach the lessons at their camps or send materials home with the family meal boxes!
 Youth from Westminster Neighborhood Services had a blast with hands-on learning about gardening and cooking this summer! While this summer was challenging to navigate at times, I am very grateful to have had the experience of communicating nutrition information virtually and contributing to the content on the new NutritionHub website. It will continue to be an amazing resource for the families that Gleaners serves, and Summer Nutrition Club material will now be available to anyone interested year-round!
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AuthorSarah Wilson, RDN, Nutrition Manager at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, along with guest blog posts by dietetic interns Archives
June 2022
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