Rise & Shine - A breakfast challenge for Moi!

I am pleased to share that Beanie N Us is proud to be part of a breakfast campaign and one of the Ambassadors and Partner Bloggers of Rise & Shine.  Rise & Shine is a community initiative started by a group of mothers and four Nanyang Technological University students. The mission of this initiative is to provide parents and educators alike an opportunity to learn, share and identify holistic approaches in raising healthier and happier children.

What was interesting for me was to see these data which the NTU students put together when they conducted a primary research with 363 parents of primary school students in Singapore. Here's what they found! 

As a mum, the scary part of the statistics for me is that 1 in 3 children skips breakfast and that 46% said that there is not enough time to eat. Whoa!!!!! *Alarm bells sounding off here* It is scary to me because I can only imagine how hungry the child would be waiting all the way till recess for a chance before he/she can finally have a bite!  

 

The NTU students have come up with some interesting outreach activities as part of this Breakfast Campaign. For those who wish to find out more and educate your child on the importance of breakfast and healthy breakfast options and choices (important for children to know as they will be buying their own meals during recess!), the team puts up educational information and does story telling sessions at various shopping malls and libraries using an interesting story - Daniel and his Mystery Friends, which introduces Breakfast Friends.

For parents who are looking for ideas, the team also provides cooking demos too!
Here's where you can view the schedules.

 
Additionally, you can find a link to healthy recipes here should you be looking for inspiration like me!

Now, as a working mother, for me breakfast is something which I do struggle with. Daily. I am usually the first to wake up, herd and chauffeur everyone out of the house to work, etc. I will be the first to also admit that I do not take breakfast (yes *gasp!*) simply because I do not have the luxury of time to sit by the dining table, read the papers calmly and snack on my sandwich. (That, I feel, seems to happen only on TV or in families with no kids! :p)

I am, however, very anal about Dumpling having some 'power bites' packed for her daily in her snack box where she eats them at her Chinese class at 10+am. So far, my choices of breakfast for her have been ok, nothing exciting, just ok. So, it is no wonder that lately, Dumpling started "rejecting" the snack boxes because she is well, just not interested in eating. Sigh...

It is a personal challenge for me now to google for interesting (and enticing) breakfast ideas which I will pack for Dumpling daily. Not only should it be yummy, it should also be healthy. My helper and I have been attempting to make things more interesting for her with cute bento stick picks for her sandwiches, etc. I do realise that this is not enough and it is a personal goal to put in more effort on packing healthy and yummy breakfast boxes for her. 

The Rise & Shine Breakfast team helped me kickstart this breakfast challenge by sending me a breakfast kit last week. :)

 
I will be sharing my breakfast journey with Dumpling, the recipes and also will be pinning them on my pinterest board. Do join me on this little journey of mine! 

About Rise & Shine Breakfast Campaign: 

The Rise & Shine is a nationwide campaign that is strongly supported by major government agencies including Health Promotion Board, People's Association, Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports and the National Youth Council and many others. It is the first campaign of its kind in Singapore to drive greater attention to raising healthier and happier children.

 

The team at NTU (from left: Hui Ying, Wayne, Wilson & Xi En)

 
For more information, you can visit Rise & Shine's Facebook page.  

Photo and Infographics source: Rise & Shine NTU Team