Meenu is a student of Class VI. She is an intelligent and hard-working girl, but has to visit the school doctor very often. Today morning, she is back to the doctor’s room –    

Doctor: Good morning Meenu! You are here today again? What’s the problem?

Meenu: Dr. Ma’am, I am feeling uncomfortable. My stomach is aching and I am feeling weak and giddy.

Doctor: Yesterday morning, when you came to visit me, I had asked you to have breakfast before coming to school every day? Did you have breakfast this morning before coming to school?

Meenu: No Ma’am. I did not have time to have breakfast.

Doctor: We had talked about this earlier too several times. I had told you never to skip or miss breakfast as it is the most important meal of the day.

Meenu: But Ma’am, there is no time in the morning to have breakfast before coming to school. Even if I get up early, my mother only gives me a glass of milk to drink.

Doctor: Ask your mother to prepare a healthy breakfast for you from tomorrow onwards. Tell her that she should never send you to school without it as it is so important. And also tell her that just having a glass of milk in the morning is not enough.

Meenu: Ma’am, my mother has to leave for work at 7:30am every day. She has no time to cook me breakfast.

Doctor: Meenu, do you know that it’s not necessary to cook everything early in the morning. We can prep for breakfast even the night before. For instance, we can chop vegetables, knead dough, even pre-cook or half-cook items and prepare everything required for the morning the previous night. So there is no rush to cook in the morning.

Meenu: Ma’am, I get bored of eating the same thing every day. There is no variety.

Doctor: Ask your mother to make a chart of different items for breakfast for the entire week/month. For instant, here’s an example below:

This way you will get bored of eating the same things every day and your mother will enjoy preparing various yummy dishes for you and your family. Just make sure all the prep is done the night before.

Meenu: Oh! Wow!! I would love to have a healthy breakfast like this before school every day.

Doctor: That’s right Meenu! This will help you to stay healthy, enjoy school and all its activities, excel in studies as well as give you energy and stamina to shine in sports.

Meenu: Thank you so much Ma’am! I can’t wait to show this to my mother.

-          By Dr. Malkeet Kaur (School Doctor)