You've heard the saying – breakfast is the most important meal of the day… and that's why the theme for this year's National Nutrition Week 2018 was: "Breakfast – the best way to start your day!" and Rama was proud to support this theme in line with its commitment to making a nutritious breakfast an everyday reality for all South African school children.
Why is breakfast so important?
Did you know that around 19% of South African children aged 10 – 14 years skip breakfast before going to school?
For busy and cash-strapped parents, ensuring their children get a good breakfast every morning can be difficult, however, a recent white paper study commission by Rama found that the right morning meal can improve children's concentration at school and give them more energy to participate in class. In addition, eating breakfast has been shown to improve overall diet quality, assist in weight management and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Studies also show that Omega oils can be especially good for children, helping them with their brain development. Rama is the first spread to be enriched with 9 vitamins and Omega 3, which means adding a bit of Rama to your bread or porridge is a simple way to add extra nutrition to your family's breakfast.
So, what is a good breakfast?
A good breakfast should contain choices from the 5 food groups – protein, grains or starchy foods, fruits and vegetables, fats and oils and unsweetened drinks as per the Department of Health guidelines.
A good example to try is the Rama Good Breakfast: Bread with Rama + Tea with milk + fruit + egg
Check out the rama webiste and find out if your family is eating a "Good Breakfast".
Find out what happened at National Nutrition Week by following the conversation using the hashtags: #ItStartsWithAGoodBreakfast #NationalNutritionWeek
How is Rama helping?
In response to this need for better breakfast nutrition, Rama in partnership with the Department of Education launched the Good Breakfast Schools Programme in 2017, teaching children the value and make-up of a good breakfast so they can be at their best every day. Already Rama has reached 277 007 reached 277 007 children in 180 schools in KZN and will expand the programme in 2019 to include more regions and ultimately reach more children.
This year, Rama partnered with Proverb and the Good Breakfast heroes – TV sports anchor Carol Tshabalala and Kaizer Chiefs defender Tsepo Masilela to inspire South African families to make smarter breakfast choices to ensure they start the day right. These heroes are living proof that a better future starts with a good breakfast!
