Getting your child to eat healthy food, especially when away from home, can be a challenge. Pack lunches that meet your nutrition standards while meeting his desire for fun, tasty food. Skip the cookies, blue yogurts and packaged chips; lean meats, fruits, dairy, vegetables and whole grains create balanced meals. If you include a drink on the side, choose low-fat milk, 100 percent juice or water.
Strategies
Invest in containers that allow you to pack creative lunches. Expand beyond the standard sandwich bags and aluminum foil and look for plastic containers with multiple compartments, a thermos and an ice pack. Enlist your child's help when shopping for these items, as you want to make sure they meet his standards. Invite your child on shopping trips for lunch ingredients as well. Limit them to shopping on the perimeter of the store where you will find produce, whole grains, lean meats and dairy products.
Homemade Deli Tray
Prepackaged combos of deli meat, cheese and a dessert are popular among kids. These highly processed lunches are full of sodium, refined flour, preservatives and added sugars. Make your own by packing the different sections of a bento box with your own healthier options. Cut shapes out of low-fat cheddar cheese using a cookie cutter for one section. Fill another with strips of grilled chicken breast, which is free of added sodium and nitrates. Fill yet another with grapes and another with whole wheat crackers. For dessert, pack a low-fat pudding, which offers calcium and counts towards your child's daily dairy needs.
Veggie Pizza
Make a quick veggie pizza by toasting a whole-wheat English muffin and topping it with low-sodium, no-sugar-added marinara sauce, low-fat mozzarella cheese and strips of pepper. Melt the cheese under the broiler and sandwich the two halves together. For portability, cut in half, wrap in foil and stow in an insulated lunch bag. Along with the pizza, include apple slices sprinkled with a bit of lemon juice, to prevent browning, and 1 tsp. cinnamon sugar. If your child has a bigger appetite, include homemade vegetable soup in a thermos as well.
Dippy Lunch
Kids enjoy foods they can dip because it makes eating interactive. Indulge this love by providing a lunch with three different dipping options. Include a small container of hummus with baked tortilla chips. Kids usually like the nutty flavor of hummus, which serves double duty as a serving of vegetables and a source of protein. Also provide a single-serving container of unsweetened applesauce with a few graham crackers and a small container of low-fat yogurt with fresh strawberry slices.
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