This was published 14 years ago
School lunches - finding the right balance
Paula Goodyer discovers that making lunch is no simple task.
By Paula Goodyer
As domestic items go, a school lunch box seems simple - until you try filling it up, says Kate Di Prima of the Dietitians Association of Australia.
"Getting the right balance of nutrients is only one challenge," she says. "School lunches also have to be as safe at lunchtime as they were when they left the fridge hours before. They also need to conform to any school policies outlawing nuts, or in some cases eggs, and be something a child can eat quite quickly - they're in an environment where they want to spend time playing, not chomping through a big apple."
Fill it up ... a diverse and healthy range of sandwiches or wraps and yoghurt, fruit or salad, is a nutritious and tasty lunch for school.Credit: iStock
PACKING IN THE NUTRIENTS
"It's a common mistake to think a white-bread sandwich made with jam, Vegemite or honey is good enough but it's missing the ingredients like slow-release wholegrains and protein foods that keep kids concentrating and feeling full," says Di Prima, the author of More Peas Please: Solutions for Feeding Fussy Eaters.
Instead, a healthy lunch box needs:
- Slow-release carbohydrates such as wholegrain bread or crackers, leftover pasta or rice to provide fibre and help children concentrate.
- Calcium-rich foods such as low-fat cheese, a small tub of yoghurt, milk or custard in a container with a spoon.
- Iron-rich protein foods such as lean meat, fish, chicken, egg, hummus, legumes or nuts (if the school allows them).
- Fruit: Di Prima emphasises fresh fruit, not fruit bars or fruit straps, which cling to the teeth and are less filling than unprocessed fruit.
- Vegetables: a small salad or raw vegetables and sticks of crisp vegetables such as capsicum, celery, cucumber or snow peas.
- Water or milk, rather than juice.
UNPACK THE SALT
Your nine-year-old's risk of cardiac arrest is the last thing on your mind when you're cutting lunch but overloading children's diets with salt sets them up for high blood pressure later on, according to the Australian Division of World Action on Salt and Health. But the pressure to have food that comes in packets is high in primary school, says accredited practising dietitian and parent Karen Kingham.
"These are the foods that ramp up the salt content - even little packs of crackers with dips that parents think are healthy can be salty. But you can compromise with the occasional small packs of reduced-fat cheese with biscuits from the supermarket chiller, or small tubs of yoghurt," she says. "Packs of fromage frais have less calcium but are better than many other things in packets and there's always small cartons of flavoured UHT milk."
Salt is listed on nutrient panels as sodium. Foods with less than 120 milligrams per 100 grams of sodium are low in salt.
KEEPING IT SAFE AND FRESH
Perishable foods need to be kept cool so use an insulated lunch box and remember freezer bricks stay cool longer than frozen drinks.
SIZE MATTERS
Making food easy to eat will help with lunch box success. "Apples are great but some children are overwhelmed by the size and don't finish them," Di Prima says.
Her strategy is to cut apples into quarters, brush the cut surfaces with lemon juice and restore them to their apple shape, wrapped in cling wrap, or using an apple slinky machine to core and slice them. Another way to make fruit appealing is to string a strawberry, a dried apricot and sultanas on a toothpick.
"It's the same principle with sandwiches," she adds. "If children are more likely to eat a sandwich with the crust removed and cut into six pieces, so be it."
NEGOTIATING WHAT GOES IN
"Kiddies love routine and are often happy to eat the same sandwich every day but as kids get into year 6 you may need to negotiate more," Di Prima says.
"Let kids choose what they want to eat but within the boundaries of a food group - they get to choose which protein food or which fruit they prefer, for instance."
Should you add a treat? "Treats are for parties - the best treat is a well-balanced lunch that keeps their blood-sugar levels even."
NO SURPRISES
"If kids are fussy eaters, it's best to introduce new foods at home," Di Prima warns.
"A surprise in their lunch box can have all the appeal of a hand grenade."
IDEAS FOR SNACKS
- Small tub of yoghurt with container of grapes.
-Vegetable sticks with cottage cheese, hummus or avocado for dipping (mashing avocado with lemon juice prevents browning).
-Container of yoghurt with berries and muesli.
-Small banana and slice of raisin bread or home-made banana bread.
-Wholegrain crackers or home-made pita chips with hummus or tzatziki.
-Drinking yoghurt and wedges of melon.
-Home-made mini fruit muffins.
-Fruit bread spread with light ricotta.
-Home-made trail mix of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins and dried apricots
LUNCHES
-Some sandwiches can be made in advance and frozen using fillings such as cheese, hummus, skinless chicken, nut butters or lean meat (but not salad, which can turn soggy).
-Wholegrain wraps made with lavash or mountain bread. Try fillings such as hummus and grated carrot with avocado, or grated cheese with avocado and a few snow pea sprouts or shredded lettuce. -Slice the wrap into manageable chunks.
-Salad pack of raw vegetable sticks, cubed cheese and wholegrain bread.
-Falafel or hard-boiled egg with cherry tomatoes and pita bread.
-Pasta mixed with diced raw or roast vegetables with a little dressing. Small can of tuna.
-Slice of home-made pizza.
-Wholegrain sandwich with hard-boiled egg mashed with light mayo and shredded lettuce.