Kid’s lunchboxes: Go - Grow - Glow
Children like lunchbox choices that are quick to eat and not messy. Unfortunately, it is easy to throw in lots of pre-packaged foods that are highly processed.
A healthy lunchbox needs to give children enough energy to fuel their body and brain for the 5 or 6 hours that they are at school. To provide everything a child needs for energy and growth, try to include something from each of these groups:
Go foods to give you energy – bread, crackers, pasta, wraps, sushi, bagels
Grow foods to keep you sustained – cheese, milk, yoghurt, lean meat, nuts
Glow foods to nourish your body – carrot sticks, piece of fresh fruit, handful of frozen berries
A treat food – opt for healthier options like plain popcorn, banana mini muffins
Water! Kids need to stay hydrated throughout the day!
Keeping children interested in their lunch is important. Talk to them about what they would like to have in their lunchbox and discuss healthier food and drink choices.
Encourage children to help prepare their lunchboxes. Older children may be able to prepare most of their lunch themselves, while younger kids can help with making sandwiches or cutting up fruit.
Healthy lunchbox suggestions
The Heart Foundation have put together a bunch of easy, kid-friendly lunch ideas to make lunch planning simple. Here’s a few to get you started:
Scroggin (e.g. almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds with some dried apricots or raisins)
Yoghurt – fruit, plain or natural yoghurts are good options
Hard boiled eggs
Sushi
Frozen fruit pieces (healthy and help to keep the lunch box cool)
Fruit kebabs
Leftovers (e.g. spaghetti bolognaise, baked beans with grated edam cheese or potato salad)
Plain popcorn
Vege pieces (e.g. carrots, broccoli, cucumber) with yummy dips (e.g. hummus or tzatziki), corn on the cob, cherry tomatoes
Top tips
If you normally use lots of pre-packaged food, rather than cutting out everything, try cutting down or go for a package free lunch once or twice a week. As well as looking after our health, it will also help our environment! Packets may save time, but they are often more expensive and don’t provide the GO-GROW-GLOW kai that our children need.
If your child’s lunchbox comes home untouched check in with your child and teacher if they have enough time to eat. Once that’s sorted, talk to your child about how our bodies need fuel during the day, just like a car needs petrol! Turn leftover lunch into an after-school picnic!
