School lunches: The good, the bad, and the ugly
A healthy school lunch keeps children alert and focused throughout the day, as well as providing them with the nutrition they require.
The end of the week is a great time to take stock of your child’s school lunches and what to pack to ensure they not only eat what’s inside their box but get all the vitamins and minerals they need for a busy school week.
Choose snacks that maintain healthy blood sugar levels
Think how you feel if you haven’t eaten for a few hours. Even adults get moody, irritable, and even tearful when their blood sugar levels drop.
When blood sugar levels drop, children who haven’t had a sustaining breakfast display a distinct lack of concentration. Porridge (like oats), or low GI bread, and preferably some form of protein (in the form of eggs or peanut butter, for example) will help keep your children alert and focused until snack time.
Stay away from junk food
Don’t fill your child’s lunch box with sweets, refined foods like white bread and cake, or biscuits and fast food containing trans fats. These will cause brief sugar highs, accompanied by sharp drops in blood sugar and energy later.
Bananas, whole wheat bread, yoghurts, unprocessed cheese, carrot sticks, and biltong are great snacks that don’t take ages to prepare in the mornings.
Top tip: Choose food that you know your child enjoys and not items you hope they will eat as they will only swop these for more appetizing snacks.
Beware the school tuck shop
Be careful of giving your child money for the tuck shop every day, as you then have no control over what they eat. Many school tuck shops now offer healthier alternatives, but the cokes, pies, chips, and sweets packed with colourants are still there too, and who will be able to check what your child is choosing?
Top tip: Choose the right lunch box. Choose an insulated lunch box or one with a freezer pack, or include a wrapped frozen water bottle to keep the lunch box cool.
Easy ways to limit your child’s fat and sugar intake
If you are concerned that your child is overweight, try to implement subtle changes in their diet without making a big deal of their weight. Chances are they will already have received negative comments at school, and you don’t want them to feel self-conscious at home too.
- Use fructose instead of sugar to sweeten cereal and hot drinks. Fructose is more natural than refined sugar and doesn’t cause blood sugar spikes, and put as much pressure on the pancreas.
- Buy baked instead of fried crisps. Many chip brands on the market advertise that they are baked instead of fried, so your children consume less oil.
- Offer full cream milk instead of fruit juices. Giving your child fruit juice with their breakfast can increase your child’s sugar intake. Full cream milk is a better option as it’s full of calcium, essential for children right up to the teenage years.
- Water is still the best drink for children. It can be frozen to help keep foods in the lunch box cool. Sweet drinks such as fruit juices, juice drinks, cordials, sports drinks, flavoured mineral waters, soft drinks, and fizzy drinks are high in sugar and unnecessary. These drinks can increase the risk of tooth decay and take the place of healthier foods.
- Steer away from muesli and ‘breakfast’ bars. Almost all bars are too high in sugar and fats and are also expensive to purchase.
