Mansfield District Council will be running a three-day campaign this week to promote the importance of eating breakfast.

The campaign is aimed at its staff but with a wider message to the community as a whole and will be held for three mornings from 9.30am to 11am on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the council’s Civic Centre.

The authority’s Healthy Lifestyle Officer Sandra Alvey and Nutrition Officer Barbara Phillips will be demonstrating various ways to give breakfast a healthy boost such as fruit muesli layers, breakfast snacks on the go, and healthy toast toppers.

Sandra said: “Breakfast is a really important meal because it does exactly what it suggests for the body and brain – it breaks a fast. But so many people skip breakfast which means your body is effectively running on empty.

“By eating a good healthy breakfast, this will improve memory and concentration levels and it can also make us happier as it can improve mood and lower stress levels. This has obvious benefits in the workplace.

“And in the wider community it has a major impact on how much better children concentrate at school, for instance, when they have a good breakfast inside them.

“Research shows those who eat breakfast are also less likely to be overweight because if you skip breakfast, you’re more likely to reach for high sugar and fatty snacks mid-morning.”

Nutritionists recommend that we eat breakfast within two hours of waking up and that it should make up 20-35% of our daily calorie allowance.

Most people include some form of cereal in their breakfast – either in breakfast cereal form or bread – and these are good sources of important nutrients such as calcium, iron and B vitamins as well as protein and fibre.

It is also recommended that people include a portion of fruit or vegetables in their breakfast as one of their “five a day”, which will also provide a good source of vitamins and minerals.

Sandra and Barbara will be lining up a range of healthy breakfast options during the week for staff at the council, which has already achieved Bronze and is working towards Silver accreditation in the Healthy Workplace Awards scheme,

The promotion is being held as part of a national national British Breakfast Week with events around the country aimed at children, the elderly, and promoting local produce.

More information about the week can be found at http://www.shakeupyourwakeup.com/breakfast-week.

Coun Andrew Tristram, the council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “We take the health and well-being of our staff very seriously and we have a good record in this area.

“We hope our staff will take advantage of this breakfast promotion. They are sure to pick up some useful and tasty ways to give breakfast that extra nutritional boost.”