Posted by Janet Harriett on Aug.27, 2009

©iStockphoto.com - kati1313

When you pack your child’s lunch (or yours or your partner’s), the lunchbox isn’t complete without a sweet treat for midday, but he standbys of cookies and snack cakes are full of fat, sugar, preservatives and artificial ingredients. Instead of an empty-calorie sugar rush bound to result in a midafternoon crash once the blood sugar spike abates, try these healthier lunchbox treats, and save dessert for the evening meal.

#6 Healthier Cookies

Cookies don’t have to be unhealthy. Companies such as Newman’s Own and Kashi make healthier versions of popular cookies, available in the same grocery stores as the unhealthy cookies. If you make a batch of homemade cookies to pack in lunches, you can make them healthy with fruit puree instead of butter or shortening to reduce the fat, and whole grain flours instead of white flour to increase the fiber content.

#5 Dried Fruit

Dehydrating concentrates the natural sugars in fruits, making them candy-sweet. Raisins, apple rings and apricots are readily available at most markets, look for more exotic selections like papaya, mango, starfruit or kiwi for an extra-special treat.  Watch out for dried fruit with added sugars or sweeteners. If you want to make absolutely certain that your dried fruit contains no added sugars or sulfites, consider dehydrating your own in a solar oven or home dehydrator.

#4 Pudding Cups

Puddings made with milk provide a source of calcium and, when made with fortified milk, vitamins A and D, too. Fat-free and reduced fat puddings are lower in fat and calories. Sugar free pudding also reduces the empty calories from added sugars, but generally uses artificial sweeteners to replicate the sweetness. Decide for your family whether avoiding extra calories or artificial sweeteners are more important. Kozy Shack makes a line of no sugar added pudding cups sweetened with Splenda.

#3 Gelatin

Gelatin cups with fruit chunks are a low fat sweet treat to end a lunch period. As with pudding cups, sugar-free gelatin usually contains artificial sweeteners. To avoid both refined sugars and artificial sweeteners, as well as the food dyes used to make Jello cups bright colors, make up individual gelatin cups in small tupperware containers using 100% fruit juices, unflavored gelatin, and natural sweeteners like honey, agave nectar or stevia.

#2 Fruit Salad

Just about any fruit can make a delicious fruit salad to top off a lunch. For the sweetest salad, look for seasonal fruits. In autumn, try grapes, apples and pears. Through the winter, citrus fruits are in season. Spring brings the possibility of berry mixes. Bananas, while imported, are available year-round. Toss fruit salad with a little lemon or lime juice to avoid discoloration. If you pack lunch with a cold pack or frozen drink bottle to keep the contents cold, you can dress the fruit salad with yogurt, sweetened with a touch of honey.

#1 Chocolate

Chocolate contains beneficial flavonoids, primarily epicatechin. An ounce of good-quality chocolate can end a lunch period with an antioxidant shot. The beneficial compounds in chocolate are concentrated in the cocoa solids, so white chocolate has no flavinoids and lacks the nutritional benefit of darker chocolates. The darker the chocolate, the higher the flavonoid content. However, darker chocolates are more bitter and children may not like the taste. Milk chocolate contains the lowest levels of flavonoids. Many chocolate manufacturers print the cacao content on their wrappers, so you can experiment to find the highest cacao content your child will enjoy to maximize the health benefits. The nutritional benefits do not extend to caramel or nougat, so stick with chocolate and skip the candy bars.

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Posted under Food, Nutrition & Recipes, Nutrition.