Persuasive Essay First Draft

“Grrr…” Your stomach just growled and it’s only first period. You think back and realize that you didn’t have breakfast this morning. In fact, you haven’t eaten breakfast this whole term. Your grades are in the toilet and you can’t concentrate in school. What’s going on here? Why am I like this? Everyone has heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but has anybody ever told you why it’s so important? Well, that’s why I’m here! I’m going to tell you why eating breakfast in the morning is so important and I’m also going to tell you that there should be a breakfast period everyday so that each student has breakfast. If every student has breakfast everyday, do you know what that could do? In 1998 a Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital study in Philadelphia and Baltimore schools discovered that students who usually ate breakfast had improved grades, reduced hyperactivity, decreased absence and tardy rates, and improved psycho-social behaviors compared to students who rarely at breakfast. So, having a breakfast period could help your grades, make you healthier and help you concentrate better! Now, doesn’t that sound dandy?

School is very important in every student’s life. (Or it definitely should be!) If we have a half hour breakfast period at the beginning of each day it would help each student get better grades. The age group most likely to actually eat breakfast: those over the age of 60. And the age group most likely not to eat breakfast: Ages 12-29. Do you not know what that means? It means that 86% of people over the age of 60 eat breakfast when only 63% of people, ages 12-29, don’t eat breakfast. Your body and your brain are not going to function as good as they could because you have no energy and no strength. When you try to learn something and have nothing in your stomach, you are going to have a lot of trouble succeeding. A lot of people think that they should not eat because they are going to feel tired, but that’s not true. Breakfast doesn’t have to be a very big meal! You’re going to feel tired if you don’t have breakfast because you have spent the entire previous night without food. A lot of people say they don’t have time to eat breakfast before they go to school, and that is where a breakfast period comes in! Once you get to school everyone can have a delicious and nutritious breakfast so that they can start their day on the good side! Eating breakfast will without doubt help your grades!

America is the unhealthiest country in the world! Have you seen how many signs there are for fast food restaurants? With-in ten minutes of my neighborhood there are fifteen fast food restaurants. And you wonder why we’re so unhealthy? We are unhealthy not only because we eat out all the time, we are unhealthy because we skip breakfast!

"Eating breakfast is very important for the brain and the body first thing in the morning", said Los Angeles registered dietitian Gail Frank, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "Breakfast skippers often feel tired, restless or irritable in the morning." In March of 2008, a study from the University of Minnesota indicated that teens who skip breakfast are more likely to become obese than those who routinely eat breakfast. Also in March of 2008, researchers at the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health found that teenagers who eat breakfast regularly tend to consume an overall healthier diet and are more physically active than breakfast skippers that are the same age. Breakfast eaters tended to gain less weight over time. If you don’t eat you will get sick! Now, who likes being sick?

Take a look around you. How many people are actually concentrating during class? I bet most of them don’t even know what the teacher just barely said. Eating breakfast will help your memory, which will help you remember what you learn in class, which will help you concentrate! You don’t only concentrate during school; you also concentrate in your home, in church meetings and in everyday life! You should want to concentrate so you actually understand everything that is happening around you!

You have to realize that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and you cannot skip it without consequences for your health, your school and your defense mechanism. It’s time for you to do something for your health, and eating breakfast is the best way to start your day! So why should we have a breakfast period? Here’s why: In November of 2007, a study by the National Food Service Management Institute’s Applied Research Division at the University of Southern Mississippi found distributing breakfast in the classroom increases consumption, decreases disciplinary problems and increases the focus on academics. The USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion found that children who eat school breakfast eat more fruits, drink more milk and consume less saturated fat than those who don’t eat breakfast! Also, American Journal of Public Health detailed a Canadian Institute for Health study indicating schools with healthy living programs – which include morning nutrition services – have lower rates of overweight and obese students. Doesn’t that just prove that it’s a good idea?