City kids forced to eat on way to school

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta

The hectic city life in Jakarta has forced more and more people to resort to a simple and easy-to-grab breakfast, as they dare not arrive late at school or the office.

Five-year-old Michael, who lives in Pantai Mutiara in North Jakarta, has a glass of milk and two slices of toast and jam in his car every morning on the way to kindergarten.

Michael's parents deem it the most pragmatic solution as he goes to a private international school in Sentul, Bogor, West Java, which is over 45 kilometers from home.

Like Michael, elementary school student Kenny has also lost the chance of enjoying breakfast at home as he lives 40 minutes from his school, forcing him to leave home at 6 a.m. at the latest. A five minutes' delay can mean he misses the bell as notorious traffic jams stand between him and his school.

Kenny's mother brings him a bowl of cereal with milk for his breakfast, which he eats on his way to school.

A survey conducted among 200 respondents by market research company National Family Opinion in 2002 showed that 83 percent of mothers prepared a ready-to-go breakfast for their children as the children needed to wake up and leave home early in the morning.

Schools commonly start at 7 a.m., while offices at 8 a.m.

Pediatrician and nutritionist Sri S. Nasar said on Thursday breakfast was a must and the most important meal of the day. Students, she said, need sufficient calories to help them stay focused during classes.

"There is a myth that eating breakfast will make children sleepy, which is not true. Instead, breakfast helps children to gain the energy their brains need," she said in a media workshop here.

People's calorie needs depend on their weight, Sri said, with a fourth of them required in the morning. Ideally there should be three meals a day, plus two snacks.

A four-year-old child weighing 15 kilograms, for example, requires 1,500 calories a day, with around 400 calories consumed during breakfast.

"To obtain the necessary calories, children can have rice and vegetables or bread or cereal with milk," she said.

Sri said for practical reasons, fewer mothers prepare rice for their children's breakfast.

"A bowl of cereal with milk contains three important ingredients for breakfast, which are grain, dairy food and fruit or vegetables. It's quite enough for a kindergarten kid's breakfast," she said.

Adding fruits to cereals is recommended, she added, as it would provide more fiber.

"Of course, I'm not saying that children should eat only cereal for breakfast. They are free to have toast or rice for breakfast. The most important thing is children do not miss breakfast as it provides the energy they need to start their day," she said.