Healthy Lunchboxes

The Importance of a Healthy Lunchbox

Some five million children's lunchboxes are prepared in British homes every weekday, yet a Food Standards Agency survey revealed that three out of four of these were likely to contain foods that were too high in saturated fat, salt or sugar. The same survey indicated that almost half of these lunches failed to include any fruit. Most, however, did include crisps, chocolate, biscuits, sugary drinks and other heavily processed snacks.

A diet that's high in fat, high in salt, and high in refined carbohydrates diminishes mental alertness, so a child eating these kinds of foods is likely to end up tired towards the end of the day. Also, a diet high in saturated fat and salt can lay the foundations for heart disease and high blood pressure later in life. Such a diet may also lead to obesity.

What not to put in your lunchbox

There are lots of foods that are marketed as 'healthy' and 'ideal for lunchboxes' that are neither. Here are some to avoid:

 Cereal bars: many cereal bars contain more than 40 per cent sugar and 30 per cent fat. While sugar eaten in a bowl of cereal tends to get washed away by the milk, in sticky cereal bars, sugar sticks to the teeth causing maximum damage.

Flavoured yoghurt: the once-healthy yoghurt now often comes attached to a pack of confectionery to stir in. Some of these contain more than five teaspoons of sugar in each pot.

Savoury snacks: cheese strings and similar foods tend to be highly processed and may contain high levels of saturated fat and salt. One single snack can contain almost as much salt as a young child should have in an entire day.

'Real fruit' snacks: saying a product is made with 'real fruit' gives it a healthy spin. But take a closer look at the label and you may find that they contain as much as a whopping 63 per cent sugar! Manufacturers might claim that they are a 'a great fun way to enjoy a healthy and nutritious diet' but a dentist might disagree.

Fruit juice 'drinks': pure fruit juice contains 100 per cent fruit juice as you would expect. However a 'fruit juice drink' can contain as little as 6 per cent juice. Many so-called 'juice drinks' are really only juice-flavoured sugary water and contain more water and sugar than actual fruit juice. They many also include artificial flavourings, sweeteners and colourings.

Reducing salt, fat and sugar

 When you're choosing foods for your child's lunchbox, always try to watch out for the levels of salt, fat and sugar. If you're buying foods, you can find out how much salt, fat and sugar they contain by looking at the label.

Reducing salt

Always check food labels for the salt or sodium content. If sodium is listed and you want to convert this to salt, you multiply the sodium figure by 2.5.

A product is high in salt if it contains 1.5g or more of salt per 100g or 0.6g or more of sodium per 100g. A product is low in salt if it contains 0.3g or less of salt per 100g or 0.1g or less of sodium.

Cut down on foods that are often high in salt, such as processed meat, cheese, and smoked fish.

If you make your own foods (e.g. pasta, quiche, and bread) for your child's lunchbox, try to use less salt or leave it out altogether.

When making sandwiches, go easy with sauces and pickles because these are usually very high in alts. 

Reducing fat 

Always check the food label for fat content. As a guide, a food is high in fat if it contains 20g or more of fat per 100g and is low in fat if it contains 3g or less per 100g. A food is high in saturated fat (also known as saturates) if it contains 5g or more per 100g and is low in saturated fat if it contains 1.5g or less per 100g.

Use butter, margarine, mayonnaise or salad dressings sparingly, because these can be high in fat, or choose low-fat spreads instead.

Use full-fat cheese or cheese spreads sparingly.

Watch out for meat pies, pasties, fried foods and salami, because these tend to be high in fat.

Choose lean cuts of meat and take the skin off chicken. 

Reducing sugar

Always read the label of any food you are buying for your child's lunchbox. Some foods can contain sugar that you might not expect to contain it.

A product is high in sugar if it contains 15g or more of sugar per 100g. A product is low in sugar if it contains 5g or less per 100g.

Watch out on the ingredients list for other words used to describe sugar, such as sucrose, glucose (syrup), fructose, hydrolysed starch and invert sugar. The higher up the ingredients list they come, the higher in sugar the foods are.

For drinks, go for still/sparkling water, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, unsweetened fruit juice and/or smoothies or yoghurt drinks, rather than squashes and sweet fizzy drinks.

Instead of sweets and chocolate, give your child fresh or dried fruit to snack on. Alternatively, you could try sunflower and pumpkin seeds or vegetable sticks and cherry tomatoes.

If you bake at home for your child's lunchbox, cut down on the sugar that you add. Try using fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apricots, raisins or fruit purées to add sweetness.
 

Ten best lunchbox tips

Here are ten tried and tested ways to make your child's lunch healthier, more nutritious and more fun:

Make eating fruit fun.
Most children will leave food that takes a lot of effort to eat, as they want a quick refuelling stop leaving maximum time for the playground. Peel clementines and cover with plastic wrap, cut kiwi fruit in half or make colourful skewers with bite sized-pieces of fruit.
 Cut down on salt.
Children tend to consume too much salt in their diet. Many manufactured foods made especially for lunchboxes, such as cheese strings, processed ham and cheese lunch packs and crisps, are very high in salt. Eating foods that contain potassium (such as bananas and dried apricots) helps balance the effect of salt in the body.
Ensure salads remain crisp.
When making salads it's a good idea to keep the salad dressing separate and let your child pour it over the salad himself to prevent it from going soggy.
Build on your child's tastes.
Communicate with your child and ask him what he enjoyed in his lunchbox. Look at what comes back untouched and ask (without being defensive) why it wasn't eaten. Ask if there are any foods that other children bring to school that he would like to try.
Save time.
Lunches can be prepared the night before to save time in the morning. Prepare pasta salads, sandwich fillings, fruit compotes or include something from last night's dinner, such as soup in a flask, chicken skewers or a Spanish omelette.
Keep food warm.
It's a good idea to include something hot in a lunchbox, particularly when the weather is cold. A wide-mouthed mini-Thermos flask would be ideal for serving up a delicious cup of homemade or good-quality bought soup that's both warming and nutritious.
Keep food cool. If you want to keep the contents of your child's lunchbox cool, try freezing a carton or plastic bottle of juice overnight. The frozen drink will help keep food cool and will have defrosted by lunchtime. Choose pure fruit juice or fruit smoothies, not fruit juice 'drinks' which tend to be high in added sugar.
Freshen up.
Cut-up vegetables sticks can dry out, so it's a good idea to wrap them in some damp kitchen paper to retain moisture.
Cut down on junk.
Avoid too many processed foods as they tend to contain few nutrients and too much salt, sugar, additives and saturated fat. If your child likes crisps but you don't want him to fill up by eating a whole bag, put some in a small bag or wrap some crisps in foil.
Add a personal touch.
Tuck a surprise like a note, stickers or joke in your child's lunchbox or hide a special treat at the bottom. Pack fun napkins, decorate lunch bags with stickers, draw a face on a banana with a marker pen or cut sandwiches into novelty shapes using cookie cutters. At the weekend it's a good idea to get your children involved in the kitchen making things like cookies and muffins which they can then take to school the following week.

The Healthy Lunchbox Checklist

good portion of starchy food, e.g. wholegrain bap, thick sliced wholemeal bread, chapatti,pitta pocket, pasta or rice salad? 

plenty of fruit and vegetables, e.g. an apple, satsuma, handful of cherry tomatoes or carrot sticks, mini-can of fruit chunks
or small box of raisins? 

a portion of semi skimmed milk or dairy food, e.g. individual cheese portion or pot of yogurt?

 a portion of lean meat, fish or alternative, e.g. ham, chicken, beef, tuna, egg or hummus? 

a drink, e.g. fruit juice, semi skimmed milk or bottle of water?

 Remember

  Make it FUN! 

Make it TASTY! 

Make it HEALTHY!