Are you working hard to encourage a healthy lifestyle for your children? Healthy lifestyles can be difficult to maintain when its time to go back to school. However, many schools now demand the provision of healthy lunches only, rather than permitting crisps and chocolate bars in lunchboxes. Theres no need to worry about what to send with your child in their snazzy new lunch box, we have some delicious ideas for you to try.
Fruity Water
Dont send fruit squash or fruity flavoured drinks in with your child. Dont even send them in with 100% fruit juice as even these have lots of sugars and calories. Make fruit infused drinks at home instead. These drinks are a great way of using up fruit that is at risk of going uneaten and the end water is far tastier compared with pure water alone. There are plenty of flasks and drink bottles available with fruit infusers inside.
Replace Sandwiches with Salads
You dont have to give your child sandwiches every day, they can quickly become boring. Try preparing some pasta or rice salads, perhaps with some chicken breast or tuna and sweetcorn. Throw in lots of fresh salad vegetables and make it bright and colourful. Just dont forget to add a fork or spork in the lunch box or things could get messy!
Vegetable Sticks and Dip
Crisps are not a good choice to make. Replace crisps with sliced vegetables with a low-fat dip for dunking. You can try all sorts of vegetables such as sliced carrots, butternut squash, peppers, cucumbers and celery. Peanut butter is also a great choice if you dont have any dip available. Celery and peanut butter work perfectly! However, it is essential that you check whether your childs school allows nut and nut based products in lunchboxes as there may be some children with nut allergies.
Dont Forget the Dairy
Milk, cheese and yoghurt should be included in the lunch box. Its a great source of calcium for children that dont follow vegan diets or those who are not lactose intolerant. If your child is unable to eat any of the dairy products you can give them sources of calcium by choosing plenty of green leafy vegetables or canned fish.
Starchy Essentials
Starchy carbohydrates help to give your child enough energy to cope with the demands of the day. Starch carbs include foods such as pasta, rice, potatoes, noodles and bread. Make the healthy choice by choosing wholemeal or wholegrain varieties of pasta, rice and bread.
There are so many ways of making a packed lunch healthier. Dont forget to add the fruit to your childrens lunchboxes. Cut it up or peel it if you think it will encourage your child to eat it when they go back to school. It is also important to continue healthy eating in the home. Perhaps one of the most important steps to take is to replace sugary sweets with fruity treats and find ways of increasing homemade, unprocessed foods in your childs diet.
Want to make sure you have everything your little one needs for going back to school? Download our free back to school checklist here!
