You are here: > Blog > Pack Children A Healthy Pack Lunch

Pack Children A Healthy Pack Lunch

Posted by Lynda on July 15th, 2013 (Diet, Good Foods, Nutrition)

Sydney dietitian, Lynda Hamilton shares her advice on packing a healthy and nutritious pack lunch for children.

 

Children need a healthy, nutritious and balanced pack lunch so that they have the fuel they need to stay alert and concentrate throughout the day.   We know that too many sugary drinks, or foods full of additives and preservatives can negatively affect children’s behaviour, their concentration and mood.  So if you want to provide your children with the tools they need to do well at school, a good place to start is their lunch box.

Here are my tips for packing a healthy lunch box that will help keep your children alert and full of energy to see them through the day.  Of course many children are fussy eaters or simply refuse to eat certain fruit or veg or salads, so take what you can from the advice here and continue to keep trying them with new combinations or recipes.

Pack a healthy pack lunch for your children

 

Keep it varied
Variety is the spice of life, particularly when it comes to keeping children happy and interested in eating healthy food. So don’t always make them the same pack lunch or give them the same piece of fruit because they will become bored and head for the school tuck shop or vending machine.

Fruit is essential
Always add at least 1, if not 2 pieces of fruit to their lunch box. Buy whatever is in season and try not to give them the same thing too many times a week. Apart from the usual banana or apple, keep a small tupperware filled with grapes, or chopped melon, a sliced peach or a mixture of berries – depending, on what is seasonal.

Swap the sandwich for wraps or pitta bread
Rather than giving them a sandwich every single day, try mixing it up with  pitta bread or wraps. Add a good quality protein such as tuna fish, chicken or hummus so that they have the brain power they need to see them through the afternoon.

Fill sandwiches and wraps with salads
Whatever you make them, pack it fresh green crunchy salad and veg that doesn’t make the bread soggy.  Try adding grated carrot, diced capsicums or sliced mange tout instead of watery tomatoes or cucumber.

Always buy wholemeal
Encourage your children to eat wholemeal bread, pittas and wraps as much as possible. They have a higher nutritional value and a low GI so they will keep them fuller for longer and give them enough energy to see them through the afternoon.

Encourage them to eat salads
If your children will happily eat salads, keep it interesting by swapping the sandwich for a tuna pasta salad, a mixed bean salad with some sliced ham or a chicken, veg and rice salad.

Veg sticks and dips
Veg sticks and hummus, or veg sticks and a bean or lentil-based dip are a great addition to the lunch box, and are seen as a ‘fun’ food for many children.   They are also a great alternative if your kids dislike lettuce or other leafy salad veg.  So chop capsicums, carrots, cucumber, raw mushrooms, broccoli and cauliflower.  Children love variety and colour so make it look interesting with a mixture of veg.

Swap crisps for mixed nuts
A small container of nuts is a great nutritious filler and far healthier than biscuits, a bag of crisps or any other unhealthy food that is high in sugar or salt. Buy raw nuts and mix them up with dried fruit as an alternative to biscuits or sweets.

Add yoghurt
Yoghurt, whether it is n a pot or of the drinkable kind, is filling, it feels like a dessert and is full of calcium – so it is a great lunch box staple.

Water not fizz
Never pack fizzy drinks or sweet, sugary cartons of juice. Stick with a bottle of water that has been kept in the fridge overnight so it is still cool at lunchtime.  If your children refuse to drink water, give them half cranberry or orange juice topped up with water.

Avoid pre-packed food aimed at children
There are plenty of pre-packed and processed food on the market aimed at children, but most of it has very little nutritional value and is either high in sugar or salt.  So never buy ‘Dairylea dunkers’, ‘Dairylea lunchables’ or their equivalents – for the simple fact they do not contain the nutrition your children need to see them through an afternoon of learning.

By Lynda Hamilton, an Accredited Practicing Dietitian and Accredited Nutritionist BSc, BHSc (N&D) at Hamilton Dietetics.

As dietitian in North Sydney Lynda covers Mona Vale, Kogarah, Collaroy Plateau, Dee Why, the Northern Beaches, Palm Beach, Newport, Narrabeen and Avalon.

Read more about Sydney dietitian Lynda Hamilton and her dietitian practice in North Sydney.

Be diet free for life and never count calories again.  Join Lynda’s new program – the 10 Weeks to Freedom Anti-Diet Weight Loss Program.  

« free guide request

Skipping Breakfast Is Unwise »