ParentingHub

It is that time of the year again, back to school and back to packing the dreaded lunch box. We however need not fear the lunch box as with some simple guidelines and planning, stress about your child’s lunch box will be a thing of the past:

Keep the following in mind when packing your child’s lunch box:

1. Keep it simple – for most kids break time = playtime and they don’t want to be bothered with complicated food, like spreading cheese on crackers or cutting up fruit.
RULE 1: Ensure that everything that goes into the lunchbox is ready to eat.
2. Stick to food your child likes – don’t use lunchbox time as an opportunity to introduce your child to new and challenging foods. You are competing with ‘play’ so you need to ensure the food is enticing.
RULE 2: Stick to tried and tested food.
3. Keep choices to a minimum – although variety is important, too many choices can be overwhelming and actually result in less being eaten.
RULE 3: Stick to a maximum of 3 – 4 different foods per lunchbox meal.
4. Include a healthy fat in your child’s lunch box in the form of butter, peanut butter, nuts, seeds, avocado etc.
Include a lean protein in the form of a hard boiled egg, palm size piece of chicken, 2 slices of cold meat, 1 TBSP peanut butter, 1/3 cup chickpeas, 3 chipolata sausages, ¼ cup biltong slices.
Include 1 – 2 healthy starches eg 1 - 2 slices low GI bread, 2 – 4 Crackers, 3 - 6 provita, 2 - 4 rice cakes
Include a fruit or a veg like an apple, nectarine, bunch of grapes or peach. You can also include some cut up watermelon, carrot and cucumber sticks.
RULE 4: Include 1 food from each food group per lunchbox.
5. Water is the most important liquid for your child and you need to send water with to school. Too much fruit juice just fills children up on empty calories and damages the teeth. Leave fruit juice for days when your children are doing sport and offer a max of 250ml per day!
RULE 5: Include water as your children’s school liquid.
6. Finally add a personal touch, write a little note or stick a sticker on a sandwich wrapper, occasionally include a small novelty instead of a sweet or fast food.
RULE 6: Add something unique and special on an ad hoc basis!

Good luck and enjoy making fun, enticing yet simple lunch boxes in 2011!