Here's How to Keep Your Child's School Lunch Healthy
By Virginia Laird
Finding a healthy combination of food that your child can take in their lunch to school can prove to be a struggle at times. While many students prefer chips, soda, and cookies, these are not the best choice when it comes to staying healthy. Health and wellness experts have offered a variety of tips for making your child’s lunch healthy throughout the school year, including:
- Consider a lean protein
- Pack plenty of fruits and veggies
- Choose water over juice
Consider a Lean Protein
While keeping your children's school lunch healthy can prove to be tricky, adding a lean protein can help. Too many find it easier to throw junk, including pizza, nachos, and a variety of other go-to quick meals in the lunchbox. Instead, a slice of deli cut turkey breast or two can offer the protein needed while cutting out some of the fat. Health and wellness experts suggest that choosing lean foods for your child’s lunch can help prevent a host of health-related illnesses, including diabetes.
Pack Plenty of Fruits and Veggies
Adding fruits and veggies routinely to your children's lunches can help each consume the appropriate minerals and vitamins necessary to keep the body healthy and help fight illness, including the flu. If your children are as picky as mine there are only a few veggies they will eat, making it difficult to pack veggies daily. However, I have discovered that adding a dip, including peanut butter or hummus, can help encourage the kids to choose veggies.
Choose Water Over Juice
Many parents turn to the help of a ready-to-go juice as the beverage of choice in the school lunch. Although these are tasty, they can be loaded with sugar. Research suggests it is healthiest to make water the beverage in your children's lunch this school year. If your child prefers something with a little flavor, there are several flavored water choices which can be healthier than a juice and still satisfy the taste buds.
It is never too soon to begin working with your child to establish a healthy balance of food that will keep both you and your student happy. With much trial and error, both of you should be able to come to an agreement on what to pack in the lunchbox.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in St. Charles, Mo.