Designing Healthy Lunches

A well-balanced meal can mean a well-balanced day.  Food is not only connected to health but behavior as well.  Studies have found that foods with artificial dyes, artificial flavors, and preservatives (esp. sodium benzoate) can trigger hyperactivity in children, which can lead to a multitude of behavioral problems.  Studies have also found that processed sugars can decrease children’s activity levels, making them tired by throwing off glucose levels.  Lunch is an important nutritional part of every child’s day.  While breakfast gets your child started, lunch keeps your child going through a long day.  Healthy lunches can help children make better choices, feel more emotionally positive, and learn more effectively.

Often times the hardest thing for parents is trying to find things that their children will eat.  Sometimes any food seems better than healthy food.  There are some ways to help your children make healthier choices.  Including your child in making his/her own lunch can be a way to start the conversation.  Children are also more likely to eat their lunches when they participate in making them.  If your child is picky, it is okay for him/her to eat the same thing each day.  Find a healthy set of foods your child is willing to eat and send those for lunch.  Then, to introduce new healthy foods, add one new thing each day and see if your child likes it.

Here are some ideas to make lunches healthy and yummy:

Start with a healthy protein that your child enjoys.  Macaroni and cheese, a sandwich or tortilla roll-up, soup, or even left overs from last night’s dinner kept warm in a thermos are great ideas.  Dairy products like cheese and yogurt are good proteins as well.

Add vegetables and fruit with lots of color.  Slices of raw vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, celery, sweet peppers, and cherry tomatoes are great ideas.  Yummy dips like ranch or hummus can make veggies more appealing.  Bananas, strawberries, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, and plums are all fruits that kids love and satisfy the sweet tooth.  There are so many vegetables and fruits your kids can begin to explore!  Pureed fruits like applesauce are always a favorite (and there are so many kinds now!!) though fresh better than packged.

Think whole grains.  Use brown grains rather than white whenever possible.  They are a better source of fiber and nutrients than white grains.  Cookies, crackers, and breads all have whole grain choices.

Get color naturally.  Foods that are full of dyes have an extreme effect on children’s behavior.  Yogurt is a wonderful healthy lunch choice (especially since they are full of probiotics).  Choose yogurts that are natural and without lots of added sugar.  Let fruit color them rather than dyes.

Water is the most hydrating.  Water and milk are healthier beverage choices for lunch.  Many juice boxes have as much sugar as sodas.

Whole foods are better than processed foods.  Processed foods are full of sugar and sodium, so whenever you can buy something that isn’t from a box with a long shelf life, you are doing your child’s body a favor.

Check labels.  Keep an eye out for dyes (yellow, blue, and red), artificial flavors, and sodium benzoate.  Check the sugar and sodium level on the foods your give your child.  You’ll be amazed how many things we all thought were healthy are actually full of sodium or sugar!

Snack foods are for snack.  We all grew up with goldfish and cheezits, but these foods are really lacking in the nutrition department.  There are many more natural brands that make healthier versions of these same foods, but they are still snack foods and not nutritionally part of a balanced meal.  Even with healthy versions of snack food, limiting snack foods in favor of whole foods, proteins, fruits and veggies is more nutritionally beneficial for your child.

No dessert, please.  Dessert is not always an evil, but the less sugar in your child’s lunch, the better.  Dessert is better left out of the school day, but a yummy sweet fruit can easily take its place.

Take time to talk with your child about healthy food choices.   While grocery shopping, making dinner, sitting at the dinner table, or preparing your child’s lunch the night before (or morning of), you can include your child and talk about food choices.  Talk about what it means to be healthy and how different foods affect the body.  Letting children participate in the process and decision making will not only teach them how to make healthy food choices but empower them to explore new foods.  And even if they are resistant to new foods, encouragement and education without pushing will help them get there, eventually.

Keep a look out for new ideas.  The Internet has wonderful suggestions for recipes to try out with your children.  Search “preschool lunch ideas” and see what you find.  Pick the brains of friends, relatives, and acquaintances.  There are a lot of great creative ideas out there!