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Since it can be hard to get kids to eat well even when they are home and you have more control over their diet, many parents give up on the idea of healthy school lunches.
After all, you can't be at school every day choosing your child's lunch in the school cafeteria. And even if you send a healthy lunch to school, there is no guarantee that your child isn't going to trade it for a candy bar and a can of soda.
When thinking about healthy school lunches, a good place to start is to make sure that your child isn't bombarded by unhealthy options at school. This can include pushing school officials to get vending machines out of the school, or at least make them off-limits during meal times. And get your child's school to provide students with healthy options.
If you aren't satisfied that your child will have enough healthy options at school, then you may just want to send your child to school with a healthy lunch that you make at home. To help make sure that your child actually eats the lunch you send to school, you should try to:
- Make it fun. Fun things to do might include adding a special note or 'joke of the day' to your child's lunch box.
- Get your child involved. This can be as simple a thing as helping plan what you make for lunch, choosing a cool lunch box, going grocery shopping or growing veggies in your backyard.
- Remember that healthy nutrition starts at home. If your child eats well at home, he is much more likely to eat well at school.
Provide healthy options for your child's lunch box:
- Whole grains. Foods made with whole grains (bread, rice, cereals, pasta, etc.) typically have more fiber and other nutrients than those made with refined grains, like in white bread. To identify whole grain foods, look for those that list whole wheat, barley, oats, or another grain as the food's first ingredient.
- Low fat milk. As an alternative, especially if your child is already drinking 16-24 ounces of milk a day, you might go with water or 100% fruit juice at lunch, but do avoid soda and fruit drinks. Low fat milk (for kids over age 2 years) is usually the preferred beverage to go with your child's lunch though.
- Lean meats. If using processed sandwich meats, choose those labeled as being 'lean' or 'low fat' and which have a low amount of sodium.
- Good carbs are found in many fruits, vegetables, and whole grain foods.
- Good fats are present in foods with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. Avoid saturated fats (animal fats) and trans fats, which are found in many processed foods, commercial baked goods, and snack foods.
- Avoid added sugar. Check the ingredients list to avoid foods with added sugar, which might list sugar, corn sweetener, dextrose, fructose, corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, honey, lactose, molasses, sucrose, or syrup.
- Nutritious snacks don't include 'fruit snacks' or a bag of chips. Instead, provide healthier options like low fat yogurt or cheese, whole fruit, trail mix, oatmeal cookies, air-popped popcorn, granola bars, etc.
Healthy Lunches
Here is an example of a healthy lunch that you can put in your child's lunch box:
- a sandwich made with whole wheat bread, low fat turkey breast lunch meat, and a slice low fat cheese
- a side of chopped raw vegetables with a low fat dip
- a cup of low fat milk
- a cup of chopped whole fruit
As an alternative, consider sending your child to school with a wrap sandwich or thermos of vegetable soup.
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