Recent studies have found that children and teenagers who skip breakfast have higher body fat than those who eat breakfast. And higher body fat can lead to serious problems as children get older, including obesity, diabetes, and even diet-related cancers. Making a good, quick breakfast involves a little nutritional science, but it’s not rocket science.

Here are a few options for quick, easy and nutritional breakfasts:

Muffins for Mad Mornings

There are days when you don’t even have to time to say the word “breakfast,” much less put one together. If that’s the case for you much of the time, the important thing is to plan ahead. Try making extra batches of baked goods and save them in the freezer. Muffins will last up to two months once frozen, so try these muffin recipes and freeze them in individual bags to throw into kids’ backpacks or heat up quickly at home.

Gina DePalma’s Very Good for You Muffins – These have tons of fiber and whole grains, and they taste good with any berry of your choice. A fast backup for manic mornings.

Sweet Potato Muffins – These are both delicious and filled with good-for-you ingredients such as whole-wheat flour, walnuts, and sweet potatoes, all of which provide cancer-fighting nutrients.

More A.M. Ammo

Homemade Granola – All sorts of granola are great on protein-packed Greek yogurt. Instead of making granola at home, you can also add more nuts and dried fruit to a store-bought reduced-sugar granola to make it more like a breakfast trail mix for a straight-out-of-the-bag fast morning feed.

Hard Boiled Eggs – Boil up some eggs to pack in with your muffins. Hard boiled eggs are a quick and protein-rich snack that can be the perfect on-the-go breakfast. They’ll last about five days in the refrigerator.

Start the Stopwatch

If you can build 15-20 minutes into your morning routine, you can make a breakfast that will provide you with long-lasting energy and will take only a little longer than pouring a bowl of cereal. According to some recent studies, those minutes might make a real difference throughout the rest of your day.

Boiled, Poached or Scrambled Eggs – According to a study published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), adult participants who ate eggs in the morning felt more satiated and consumed fewer calories throughout the day than participants who ate a bagel breakfast with the same amount of calories. Another NIH study found this to be true for preadolescent children as well.

Healthy, Fruity Oatmeal – Oatmeal is a great standby, but the individually wrapped and flavored varieties in grocery stores can pack a lot of sugar. To avoid that, make slow-cooked oatmeal the night before, or soak it in water overnight for faster preparation in the morning.

Quinoa Breakfast Porridge – Quinoa for breakfast? It might sound odd, but with some classic oatmeal add-ins, quinoa is great in the morning.  It nutritionally trumps oatmeal in more ways than one and is the only grain that provides complete protein.