Packing a Healthy Lunchbox This School Year: 3 Tips
By Virginia Laird
Millions of parents prefer their children take a lunch to school as opposed to buying the lunch tray. For many, this is a way to attempt to have their student eat healthier. However, packing a healthy lunch for your child to take to school can be challenging. Health and wellness experts suggest that parents should make every effort to ensure the lunch is a well-balanced one. While it can be tempting to purchase cookies, chips, and a variety of other prepackaged food to pack, these are simply not the best choices. Research indicates that many of the prepackaged goodies are filled with fat and high in sodium. A few suggestions these experts offer to help you pack a healthy lunch all school year long includes:
- Leave out the cookies
- Pack items with nutritional value
- Include plenty of water
Leave Out the Cookies
Many think that a school lunch needs to be topped with a treat and reach for the sweet satisfaction of cookies and candy. Health and wellness experts suggest that foregoing these items can help encourage your child to eat healthy and help curb the number of calories each may consume. Research suggests that many who eat too much sugar can develop a variety of diseases, including diabetes. If you need to help you student satisfy a sweet tooth, try adding a piece of fruit to the lunchbox.
Pack Items with Nutritional Value
Rather than reaching for the most convenient items for your child’s school lunch, make sure to find items that offer nutritional value. The lunch should include a lean protein, fruits, veggies, and other such items that can help keep your child on a healthy path. Make sure to avoid chips too often, as these offer little to no valuable nutrition.
Include Plenty of Water
Although many students will have a juice or soda packed in their lunch, it is best to include water. Water encourages proper hydration and flushes toxins from the body. It is advised that everyone drink daily at least half of their body weight in ounces of water. Packing water for lunch can help your child reach that goal.
With only a few short weeks away from the start of school, there has never been a better time to begin working with your child on what will be in his or her lunchbox.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Happy Valley, Ore.
