Healthy Tips for Breakfast and Lunch During the School Year

What Are the Health Benefits of Lunch?

Like breakfast, eating lunch is just as important, and the reasons for it are similar. It turns out, food is not just fun to eat… our bodies need it too.

More energy – If you tend to feel drained in the afternoon, ask yourself if you’ve been skipping lunch. Taking time out to eat lunch in the middle of the day raises your blood sugar level and gives you needed energy to carry you into the evening. Kids need a healthy lunch to help them stay focused throughout the school day.

Sustained nutrition – All meals are important for a child’s development. If a child doesn’t receive a healthy lunch, their development may suffer, impacting both mental and physical health.

Avoid nighttime overeating – Those who skip lunch may be more likely to eat too much for dinner or more tempted to consume unhealthy snacks after school. Eating lunch midday helps satisfy our kids’ bellies.

What Makes Up a Healthy Lunch?

When packing your child’s lunch, it’s important to include primarily foods that provide key nutrition that they need to stay energized for the remainder of the school day. That said, it’s also a good idea to give your child options. When planning their lunches, make them feel included by letting them choose between healthy options. You will know they are eating healthy and they will know they are eating foods they enjoy.

When packing your child’s lunch, try to include at least one option from each of the following food categories.

Protein

• String cheese
• Yogurt
• Cottage cheese
• Hard boiled eggs
• Sliced chicken breast
• Sliced turkey
• Almonds
• Hummus
• Avocado
• Pistachios
• Quinoa

Grain

• Rice (mix with beans for a protein source as well)
• Popcorn
• Whole-wheat bread
• Whole-wheat crackers
• Granola

Fruit

• Grapes
• Bananas
• Apple slices
• Strawberries
• Blueberries

Vegetables

• Snap peas
• Baby carrots
• Baby sweetcorn
• Sliced peppers
• Snap peas
• Broccoli florets
• Celery
• Cherry tomatoes
• Sliced cucumbers

Dairy

• String cheese
• Low-fat milk
• Yogurt

[Read more: Back to school health checklist]

Tips That Make Health Eating Easy for You and Your Child

If it’s difficult finding time to eat in the mornings and even more difficult preparing lunches for your kids before they head off to school. While we can’t add more time top your 24-hour day, we can offer some tips to help establish a convenient routine and encourage healthy eating.

1. Give your child choices – Instead of telling your kids what they will eat, give them some options. Of course, you will want to determine what those options are, but giving kids a choice between 2 or 3 healthy foods can be a great way to get your kids more excited to eat healthy.
2. Make foods fun and easy to consume – Young kids in particular might struggle consuming breakfast or lunch in one sitting, especially if they don’t find the food all that interesting. You probably don’t have time for elaborate recipes, so instead, use some simple tricks to make fruits and vegetables more exciting. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of fruits like melons or apples. You can do the same for certain vegetables or cut other vegetables into fun strips that are easy to eat. If you need to incorporate dairy, string cheese is an engaging food that many kids love peeling apart.
3. Maintain healthy habits during weekends – If you pack healthy lunches for your kids during the week but let them eat mostly junk food over the weekend, there’s a good chance they probably won’t be all too thrilled about snap peas or yogurt. Keep these healthy meal habits going throughout the week with a rotation of various foods, while limiting more unhealthy foods to occasional treats.

Need more healthy tips?
Check out health and wellness programs offered by Network Health