The Healthy Lunch Box (Your Health Magazine)

It's 7 a.m. and you're not only trying to get breakfast on the table for your school-aged child or children, you're also trying to pull together a lunch and snacks for recess, pack their backpack and get them out the door in time. So much for breathing a sigh of relief when September rolls around and the kids are back in school. Now you have to come up with appealing, healthy lunches and snacks five times a week.

Lunchables, mini chocolate bars, small bags of potato chips, pop and other "treats" are tempting to time-strapped parents but prepackaged, highly processed items are expensive calories which are loaded with sodium, trans fats, refined starches and sugars, yet low on nutrition. So what's the trick to getting your kids to eat foods that are actually good for them? Here's a few tips:

1. Get them involved: Instead of becoming a short-order cook, encourage your kids to give you a hand in the kitchen. Discuss how to make healthy food choices and why this is important to their health, growth, energy level and fitness. Let them make, wrap and pack their own sandwiches. Most kids take pride in their personal sandwich creation and you'll be starting them off to making good food decisions for later life.

2. Make snacks count: Little stomachs need smaller portions but need to be filled more often. Stay away from processed snack foods; instead create your own in reusable containers with small compartments. Kids generally prefer raw veggies to cooked, and they love to dip and dunk. Pack pod-peas, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower or cherry tomatoes with a homemade cream cheese and spinach dip.

3. Have healthy options available: Limit the juice and pop. Instead, put a single-serving -sized milk in the freezer over night. It'll thaw out by lunch and it will help keep other foods it is packed with cool and fresh. Don't keep a lot of junk food around in the house. If you have healthy choices available (fruit, veggies, yogurt, cheese, whole grain breads) then no matter what your child decides to bring for lunch will be a good choice.

- Jennifer Cockrall-King

Your Health Magazine - September - October, 2004 Issue

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