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Singing the Lunchbox Blues?
How to Create a Healthy Meal for Your Student
Part One
By Donna Smith
It's school time, and that means getting children up, dressed, fed and out the door in time for the bus. And don't forget about packing that all-important lunchbox. This year, make what's inside the lunchbox as exciting as the outside – and a little healthier, too!
Lunch is often a child's favorite part of the school day. They get to socialize with their friends and get rid of some of that built-up energy, which is important to them and to the teachers. But what they put in their mouths is just as important. Make sure what you're sending gives them the energy and nutrition they need for the rest of the day.
"Kids need that midday break, and they need the fuel they get from the food you pack," says Leanne Ely, nutritionist and author of Healthy Foods: An Irreverent Guide to Understanding Nutrition and Feeding Your Family Well (Champion Press). "As parents, we are responsible for feeding souls, not merely filling holes. Give them quality nutrition for lunch if you expect a quality performance at school."
Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. If you've ever had lunch with your child, you've noticed that not many kids actually eat their lunch. Some only eat the dessert, rip the sandwich apart and nibble on the filling or just eat the chips. Then there's the lunch trading that has gone on since the beginning of time. And, somehow, your child always ends up with only sugar-sweet food when the trading is done. How can you make a lunch that will be eaten and not traded, thrown away or picked apart?