While school lunch programs are required to meet certain nutritional guidelines, what kids actually eat can fall short, especially if they choose a hot dog and chips every day. If you pack your child's lunch, you can ensure that they have a healthy, nutritious meal. Involving your child in the process gives them the opportunity to develop important life skills such as menu planning, safe food handling, and nutritional analysis. If your child is reluctant to pack a lunch, allow him to choose from a list of healthy options, or to suggest his own alternatives.
Step 1
Try to include foods from all the major food groups, including whole grains, proteins, dairy, fruits, and vegetables. A balanced school lunch might include a meat and cheese sandwich with lettuce and tomato on whole grain bread, a piece of fresh fruit, and low-fat milk.
Step 2
Write out a weekly lunch menu with your child. Customize the lunch menu around his food preferences, seasonal considerations, and activities. For example, if Monday is forecast to be especially cold, plan a hot lunch of chili or soup for that day. If he meets with a tutor every Tuesday at lunchtime, plan a lunch he can eat while he studies, such as cheese, crackers, and raisins or grapes.
Step 3
Make healthier substitutions. Instead of fried potato chips, pack homemade trail mix or baked snack crackers. These foods are lower in fat than chips and still provide a crunchy snack. Make your child's sandwich with whole grain bread instead of white. Give her seltzer water with a splash of 100 percent fruit juice instead of a soda. Discuss the importance of good nutrition with your child and encourage him to come up with healthy options for lunch.
Step 4
Keep food at a safe temperature. According to Diane Van from the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, common lunch foods such as cold cuts and yogurt are only safe for two hours at room temperature. Put your child's lunch in an insulated lunch box and use a frozen cold pack to keep her perishable lunch cold. If your child takes a juice box or water bottle to drink, put it in the freezer the night before. It will act as an ice pack, keeping mayonnaise and other perishables cold and will be thawed and ready to drink by lunchtime.
Tips and Warnings
- If your child likes a hot lunch, provide soup, pasta, chili or other dishes in a thermos.
Things You'll Need
- Insulated lunch box
- Ice pack
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