Health Topics

School Lunches

School lunches have improved over the years and in fact have to meet federal standards for protein, vitamins, calcium and iron. And, many school cafeterias have undergone menu makeovers to improve on quality even more. Even if the healthy foods are available at school, your child may not buy them. Some children go to the vending machines or buy from the a la carte items every day. Would you be surprised if your child's usual lunch is a bag of potato chips washed down with a bottle of regular pop! This is a good time to talk to your child about healthy lunch choices if they are going to buy foods on their own, away from your watchful eyes.

Our friends at Kids Health.org suggest the following steps to take with your kids:

• Look over the cafeteria menu with your child. Find out what they like or have tried before. Talk about those choices that are healthy, still allowing your child to choose favorite lunch items occasionally. This activity should happen often and early in your child's school years when you can have the most influence.
• Ask what foods are available like chips, soda, and candy. Currently, schools are opting to remove some of these items from the school grounds. Find out if and when these foods are available at your child's school.
• There is nothing wrong with your child supplementing school lunches with a few items brought from home, say for instance, yogurt or fresh fruit.
• Encourage your child to pack a lunch, when it fits with in your family and their preference. Make it a family rule to decide together what the lunches will be.

If taking a lunch to school is your child's best option, remember a few pointers:

Kids don't like soggy sandwiches (who does!) or runny yogurt or containers that explode in their bags, or smashed bananas!

• To start, come up with a list of foods that your child likes. Even better, take a special trip to the grocery store just to search for a few items they would like to try. The more your child is active in selecting foods and preparing their lunch, the greater the likelihood they will eat it! Try to get your child to "think outside the box".
• For balancing healthy choices, go to www.mypyramid.gov and check out the interactive tool for kids.
• Steer your child away from high fat and low nutrient dense foods. Examples are snack chips, sandwich cookies, high fat lunch meats, and prepared lunches. Substitute items such as baked chips (Doritos and Tortilla chips too), graham crackers, fig or granola bars can be selected in place of creme filled cookies. Lean meats and cheeses made from low fat milk are good protein sources.
• Go for whole grain bread and pasta when possible, substituting for white bread and regular pasta as an example. Other ideas for sandwich choices include: Rice cakes, plain or flavored mini bagels, whole wheat buns or square bagels, matzo crackers, pita bread or flat breads used for sandwich wraps. Even toasted waffles can be used for sandwiches, spread with peanut butter, jelly and crunchy granola. If your child doesn't want a soggy sandwich, pack items separately and they can assemble it at lunch time.
• Be sure that your child is including (and hopefully eating) fruits and vegetables in their lunch. Below are a few ideas to get you going. If your child is not a big veggie eater, try vegetable juices, such as Splash. Pack some fruits in hard, disposable containers to prevent them from getting squashed.

• Your child can purchase low fat milk at school, encourage them to drink water, too. Steer clear of fruit drinks or juice drink boxes as these are low in nutritional value. Drinking more than 4 to 6 ounces of 100% juice a day is discouraged. One mom's great idea is to fill a plastic container half way with low fat milk and freeze overnight. In the morning, fill it up the rest of the way with cold milk. By the time your child is ready to drink it, it will still be nice and cold.
• Lastly, a great time saver is to have you supervise your child while he or she packs their lunch the night before. Keep the perishables in the frig over night and in the morning, place the contents in an insulated lunch bag/box with a frozen commercial ice pack to keep things cold.
  

And, be sure to wash the lunch container out each night with warm soapy water and let it air dry.

Additional recipe and menu information:
www.familyfun.com
www.schoolnutrition.org
www.mealsmatter.org
www.easy-school-lunch-recipes.com

Great Kid Friendly Cook Books:
Family Fun Cookbook, 1996, Family Fun Magazine, Disney Editions
Veggie Kids by Roz Denny, Anness Publishing Ltd.

Lunchbox Menu Ideas:
Following are a few lunchbox menu ideas. Portions can be small to large depending on the age of your child.

• Peanut Butter and sliced apple on whole grain bread (Mix in a touch of honey and cinnamon to the peanut butter for a delicious change)
  Pretzel Nuggets
  Low Fat Yogurt
  Baby Carrots
  Water

• Hummus and Veggies for dipping (Try green pepper strips, baby carrots and cucumber slices.)
  Baked Pita Chips
  Red and Green Grapes, mixed
  Oatmeal Cookie
  Low Fat Milk

• Layered Taco Bean Dip (click for recipe)
  Baked Tortilla Chips
  Salsa
  Snack Size Applesauce
  Low Fat Milk

• Chicken Drum Stick (Leftover from a family meal or roasted, takeout chicken)
  Noodle Salad (click for recipe)
  Grape or Cherry Tomatoes
  Diced Peaches in Light Syrup
  Low Fat Milk

• Mini Pita Sandwiches suffed with Tuna Salad
  Pineapple Chunks in Natural Juice
  Low Fat Chocolate Pudding
  Low Fat Milk or Water

• Assorted fresh fruits served with Peanut Butter Fruit Dip (click for recipe) Pick whatever fruit your child likes and cut into manageable pieces.
  Goldfish Crackers
  Thermos of Vegetable Soup
  Low Fat Milk

Have a great school year!

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