Back to School Lunches

Sun-filled summer days are just about over and the resumption of school is right around the corner. It’s that time of the year folks - backpacks, books, and paper bag lunches!

One tool that you can give your child to help her excel, stay energized, focused, and sharp throughout the day is with a nutritious lunch. Sound simple, right? Here’s where it can get tricky:

You want to pack foods you know your child will eat, especially younger children with less refined palates that often sway towards less healthy foods. Packing foods they want to eat such as junk foods are often unhealthy, processed, full of salt and loaded with sugar. All this can cause drowsiness, lack of attention, fatigue and lead to obesity.

The worst lunch foods, according to eDiets Director of Nutrition Pamela Ofstein are:

• Artificial juices or drinks
• Candy
• Cookies and other snacks that contain hydrogenated oils
• Fried chips
• High sugar cereals as snacks

Replacing the above foods may seem difficult at first, but it’s worth a shot. If you spend some time and make the food fun, you can give the nutrients your child needs. Pack lunches with varieties of color, shape, variety and participation. For example, you may want to cut sandwiches into creative sizes and shapes.

Pam’s top picks for a nutritious school lunch include:

• Cheese sticks
• Cut up fruit
• Dried fruit and nut mix (as long as your child isn’t allergic!)
• Veggies with low fat dip
• Yogurt
• Whole wheat crackers with cheese
• Sandwiches with lean meat on whole grain bread

Add a healthy snack to keep your child’s hunger at bay, which is especially important if there are junk food vending machines in the school. Finally, make sure to give your child a nutritious snack when she gets home from school such as a yogurt, peanut butter sandwich or baked chips and salsa to keep the hunger at bay till suppertime.