MANILA, Philippines?As the term suggests, breakfast is supposed to break a fast. After all, unless someone is sleepwalking, he/she does not take anything while asleep.

Surprisingly, Filipinos, who seem to spend their waking hours munching on something, do not jump out of bed when they awake and go straight to the dining table to make up for all that time when they did not put anything in their stomachs.

Whether they sleep for the recommended eight hours or a fraction of that time, Filipinos still have to be reminded to start the day with a good, filling and nutritious meal.

The usual excuse is the constraints of life in the modern world leave little time for a leisurely breakfast.

Adults have to rush off to work or other activities while children have to catch the school bus or, those in public schools, have to start early so two other classes can use their rooms.

Ironically, experts point out that the meal they are skipping is actually the one they need most to cope with the day?s work, challenges and aggravations.

Like fuel to vehicles and machines, a good morning meal energizes, makes the body parts perform the way they should, awakens the mind for the work it has to do and generally just keeps a person alert the whole day.

Children, in particular, need all the benefits of a hearty breakfast as they try to cope with the mental, physical, and psychological demands of school work and other activities.

At a recent symposium on ?Sowing the Seeds for a Healthy Child? organized by Nestlé, Dr. Jaime Z. Galvez Tan pointed out that breakfast replenished blood glucose levels after an overnight fast.

Good start

For schoolchildren, a nutritious breakfast gave the day a good start as it improved academic performance and psychosocial functions.

Galvez Tan, former health secretary and now professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, said breakfast made students more alert and improved their memory, among others.

A full stomach improved their mood and their relationship with their classmates.

On the long-term, breakfast improved overall nutrition. A healthy breakfast, Galvez Tan said, provided about a third of a person?s daily nutritional requirements.

He said it was a misconception that skipping breakfast helped people lose weight.

On the contrary, he said breakfast ?helps maintain a healthy weight and a normal body mass index.?

He cited published studies that showed breakfast ?reduced obesity risk, prevented stunting, [meant] better physical endurance,? among others.

So important is having that first meal of the day that Galvez Tan said, ?Any breakfast is better than no breakfast at all.?

But, of course, for Galvez Tan and other symposium speakers, a nutritious breakfast should be the norm.

Nutritious isn?t expensive

Marikina Mayor Maria Lourdes Fernando said, in her city, they were promoting the eating of breakfast and also the idea that a nutritious meal did not have to be expensive. Thus, they supported any campaign to fortify food to make it more convenient for people to get the nutrients they needed.

Dr. Trinidad Trinidad of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute-Department of Science and Technology underscored the benefits of foods that provided complex carbohydrates and had high fiber content like whole-grain products.

Among other things, such foods, she said, slowly released glucose into the blood helping improve memory and concentration, two things schoolchildren, in particular, needed.

Officials of Nestlé and General Mills said it was in recognition of the benefits of fiber and complex carbohydrates that the companies came up with their line of whole grain breakfast cereals.

Corazon V. Sager of Nestlé?s Wellness Unit said they wanted to empower consumers to make the right choice for wellness and health.

Nutritionist Brigid McKevith said whole grain cereals were not only nutrient-rich but also ?convenient and tasty... upgrading the value of the first meal of the day.?

Nestlé has launched its Healthier Breakfast Campaign with Whole Grain, as part of its Nutrition and Wellness program. Among the initial activities of the campaign is Promoting Good Nutrition and Health Breakfast program with Marikina.

The company is also supporting the supplementary feeding program of the Department of Education.

During the symposium, parenting advocate Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan stressed that, while more nutritious products were now in the market like Nestlé?s whole grain line, it was important that parents set the right example to get children to develop the habit of eating breakfast.