Healthy lunchbox for children - Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting Club

A healthy lunchbox

Unfortunately of the 5.5 billion children’s lunchboxes packed each year, 3 out of 4 are overloaded with fat, sugar and salt.

A healthy lunchbox should contain a source of protein like chicken or tuna to keep your child alert, complex carbohydrates like a pasta salad or sandwich made with wholegrain bread, calcium eg: cheese or yoghurt for healthy bones and teeth, two portions of fruit and vegetables for vitamins and minerals and a little fat for staying power so its ok to include a treat like a cereal or chocolate bar or better still try some of my home made cookies or muffins.

Children are all different but by and large what they want is a quick fix - a packet of crisps and a chocolate biscuit that can be wolfed down in minutes saving maximum time for the playground. Its never going to be what their parents want, good food that will sustain them until lunchtime. Here are some tips to help you cope

Sandwiches don’t need to be boring there are so many different types of bread available.. Try giving pitta pockets with tuna, sweetcorn and mayonnaise, tortilla wraps with sliced turkey, salad cream, shredded lettuce and grated cheese, mini baguettes with ham and cheese or bagels with Marmite . To prevent sandwiches getting squashed store them in a small plastic container in your child’s lunchbox. Make sure you dry ingredients like lettuce or the sandwiches will become soggy.
Lunches can be prepared the night before to save time the next morning. You can prepare pasta salads, sandwich fillings, fruit compotes or include something from last night’s dinner like soup in a flask, chicken skewers or a Fritatta (Spanish Omelette)
Avoid too many processed foods as they tend to contain few nutrients and too much salt, sugar, additives and saturated fat. Instead of crisps or chocolate biscuits try offering Twiglets, popcorn, rice cakes, yoghurt covered raisins, dried apricots
However healthy food is, it won’t get eaten unless it’s tasty and appealing to your child. Simple touches can make all the difference like cutting sandwiches into shapes using cookie cutters or threading fruit onto a straw to make a fresh fruit skewer
Children like raw vegetables like sticks of carrot, sweet pepper, cucumber etc.. wrap these in damp kitchen paper to prevent them drying out and maybe include a tasty dip like cream cheese and chive or hummus.
Most children will leave food that takes a lot of effort to eat as they want a quick re-fuelling stop leaving maximum time for play. For example, give clementines already peeled and cover with plastic wrap or cut fruits like mango or melon into wedges.
As the colder weather sets in it’s a good idea to include something hot in a lunchbox. A wide mouthed mini thermos flask would be ideal for serving up a delicious cup of home-made or good quality bought soup like tomato soup which is both warming and nutritious. You could also put foods like baked beans in a flask.
Salads make a nice change from sandwiches, try Chicken Caesar Salad, Chef’s Salad with Turkey and Cheese, Cherry Tomatoes and Mini Balls of Mozzarella or Chicken Salad with Pasta, Sweetcorn, Cherry Tomatoes and Spring Onion. Keep the salad dressing separate and let your child pour it over his salad himself so that it remains crisp.
Pure fruit juice contains 100% fruit juice as you would expect, however a ‘fruit juice drink’ can contain as little as 5% juice. Many so-called ‘juice drinks’ are really only juice-flavoured sugary water and contain more water and sugar than actual juice and many also include artificial flavourings, sweeteners and colourings. Other good options are fresh fruit smoothies, probiotic mini yogurt drinks or plain old water.
With some schools banning chocolate from packed lunchboxes cereal bars are often substituted for confectionery or biscuits. However check the label, some cereal bars contain over 40% sugar and over 30% fat. Also whilst sugar eaten in a bowl of cereal tends to get washed away by the milk, in sticky cereal bars, sugar sticks to the teeth causing maximum damage.
It’s good idea to buy an insulated lunch box. Lunchboxes left in a warm place can become a breeding ground for germs. To keep your child’s lunchbox cool, buy a mini ice pack or freezer gel packs which can be frozen and inserted with the lunch. Buy a couple of ice packs so that you will always have one in the freezer. Alternatively freeze a carton or plastic bottle of juice overnight. The frozen drink will help keep food cool and will have defrosted by lunchtime.