Posted by Savneet Singh on Apr.18, 2009

©iStockphoto.com - sjlocke

Parents face problems while packing lunch for their school going kids . Packing lunches can become either the most painful or most fun part of mom’s days’ cooking. Moms always have complained that the kids don’t finish their lunch in the school. Every mother is happy when her child eats well and worried if not. School-going children require a lot more energy and nutrients for their growing body than adults.

The Lunch Challenge

With only 20 minutes to eat in the lunch time, kids should be given “fast food” that can be finished easily as well as have nutritional value. The food given to children for school should be healthy, tasty and loaded with nutrients.

Children sometimes are picky, they pay attention to food texture, color and taste. In addition, you need to be aware of the food containers, especially plastic containing phthalates and bisphenol-A (BPA).

Healthy Lunch Solutions

Children’s school lunches need to have proteins, fiber, and good fats to stabilize blood sugar. The rapidly rising blood sugar affects children by cascading down too quickly and too low. It affects mood as well as attention. Drop in blood sugar can lead to irritability , hunger, headache, lack of focus, behavior problems, and cravings for quick sugar fix which keeps the cycle going on. This hinders learning and can disrupt class.Thus, basic rule for any meal preparation and especially when preparing school lunch are:

• Avoid foods which raise blood sugar quickly. These include sugar, sodas, candy, sweets, juices and any refined grains like pretzels, bread, crackers, bagels, chips on an empty stomach. Limit the sugar and keep the refined carbohydrates limited.
• Stay away from sodas (regular and diet). A healthy diet has no place for sodas, which are high in phosphorus that depletes healthy nutrients. They remove vitamins and minerals from the body. Add water, diluted juices, seltzer water with juice to flavor or vegetable juice in the lunch instead.
• Promote protein. The increased requirements of protein among growing children should meet demands of the growth. Protein packed choices include fish, poultry, meat, eggs, beans, nuts and seeds. A child may need one to two ounces and a teen/adult may need three to five ounces of protein a day.
• Include fiber. High fiber option includes fruit, beans, nuts,seeds and whole grains. These are very important in case your child does not eat vegetables.
• Toss in a favorite food. Promote more interest in the meal by including at least one food that your child consider ‘a favorite’.
• Add to fun- factor. Include a surprise gift in the lunch. It can be a small collectible such as a car, baseball, card, sticker, ring or a bracelet. Home made gifts are perfect.
• Go organic. The USDA organic label means the food is produced in accordance with the USDA organic standards which prohibit synthetic pesticides and herbicides, antibiotics or hormones, though some plant-derived pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers are permitted. This reduces the exposure to synthetic chemicals in the food supply.
• Establish 3-5 basic lunches that work. Include your child in the process if he or she is interested. Children tend to eat better if they have a say in what they eat.
• Maintain food safety. Use freezer packs for keeping food cold and thermos for hot food.
• Include non-toxic hand sanitizer. You can send two paper towel pieces, one moistened with soap and one with soap and one moistened with water.
• Make lunch box the child’s own piece of art. Usually young children love to decorate their lunch boxes with paint and stickers. Go with the trends and your child’s choice.
• All lunches should be accompanied by either water, vegetable juice, or a shelf-stable milk drink.

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Posted under Cooking Healthy, Food, Nutrition & Recipes, GDM Kids, Tweens, Teens.