Healthy Lunch box

Tips for a Healthy Lunchbox

By Clare Panchoo
Nutritionist and author of ‘What’s in This’
a guide to help parents

A packed lunch for kids should contain some energy to help their brains and muscles work during the afternoon as well as some good nutrition to help keep them healthy. Not an easy job when you factor in: government and school pressure for lunchboxes to be healthy, the science degree often required to decipher food labels, a child’s likes and dislikes, the need for it to be easy and quick to eat and above all enjoyable so your child will eat it.

Below are the 5 important groups of foods/drinks to try and include in their lunchbox that will help give them a balanced meal plus meet the school lunch policies that many schools are now introducing.

1. Carbohydrate Foods
These foods give the body energy that growing children need. Eating the wholegrain version helps the body to maintain a constant supply of energy as it is digested more slowly. The wholegrain products also supply the body with fibre and many important vitamins and minerals that the body requires.

Ensure that at least one of the following are in your child’s lunchbox each day:

Bread Slices or Rolls	Bagels	Corn Thins
French Bread	Oatcakes	Ryvita
Pitta or Wraps	Rice Cakes	Ciabatta
Rice Sallad	Potato Sallad	Pasta Sallad

2. Protein Foods
Protein is necessary for the growth and repair of all body tissues. It is the building block for muscles, blood, skin, hair, nails and internal organs. So it’s really important to try and get a source of protein in your child’s lunchbox.

It is most easily added as a part of a sandwich but could also be prepared in a salad or served on its own:

	Cheese
	Canned/fresh fish e.g. tuna, salmon
	Eggs
	Chicken, beef or other meat left over from the Sunday roast
	Delicatessen chicken, turkey, lean ham
	Nut butters (if permitted), such as peanut, almond, cashew and / or seed spreads such as tahini or pumpkin
	Chickpeas & Houmous
	Vegetarian sausages, spreads and sandwich meat alternatives
	Plain unsalted nuts (if permitted within school) / seeds
	Beans, pulses, tofu and tempeh

3. Dairy Foods & Alternatives
These are important because not only are they another source of protein for your child they also supply a good source of calcium and other nutrients which are essential for your growing child.

Ensure that their lunchbox contains one of the following:

	Milk or soya milk (calcium enriched). This can be plain or as milkshake.
	A small chunk of cheese
	Cottage cheese
	Yoghurts: The best yogurts are plain due to the amount of sugar that is added to fruit yogurt. However many children do not like these plus they do not come in the handy ‘child sized’ pot. When choosing fruit yogurts opt for the ones that contain the least amount of added ingredients.
	Custard/ Rice Pudding: If your child won’t eat any of the above try milk products from a dessert range such custard pots or pots of rice pudding. Again choose the product with the least amount of extra added ingredients.

4. Fruits And Vegetables

The lunch box should help towards your child eating their 5 a day. However this is often easier said than done!

Fruit and vegetables can be fresh, frozen, canned, dried or juiced and so for a child who dislikes their fruit and vegetables a small carton of pure or diluted pure fruit juice will instantly count towards their 5 a day.

Ensure that the lunchbox contains at least 1 of the following:

	Pure or diluted pure fruit juice.
	Fruit / fruit and vegetable smoothie
	Fresh or canned fruit salad (ensure canned is not in syrup)
	Any fresh fruit that is easy to eat– banana, apple, tangerine, peach, plum, pear, grapes, strawberries etc.
	Salad vegetables that can be added into sandwiches or cut into crudités: carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, celery, peppers. These can also be dipped into houmous and cottage cheese.
	Dried fruit – raisins (often a good choice too for those that do not like fruit and vegetables), apricots, figs, dates, bananas etc.

5. Drinks

The plainer the better for your child’s drinks. Ideally avoid juice drinks that have sugar or sweeteners added.

Snacks/ Treats
Did you know? Plain biscuits (non chocolate covered) and cake are seen as an acceptable part of a balanced lunchbox meal by the School Food Trust.

Even better try and include a snack/treat which also plays a role in either giving the child energy or providing some nutrition.

Just be careful to look at the overall lunchbox — if your child is consuming a lot of sugary food at lunch time (yogurts, juices, biscuits) this could lead to a sugar rush (increased blood sugar level) which would initially lead to your child becoming fidgety and on ‘an energy buzz’ for about an hour afterwards. This would be followed by decreased energy, poor concentration, tiredness and hunger and can be accompanied by sugar cravings and headaches and just in time for the end of school!!

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