Nicole Bando | Dietitian & Lactation Consultant

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Lunch Boxes in 2024: your child’s toolkit for play, learning and growth

The lunch box provides up to 40% of a child’s daily intake and fuels growth, development & learning. A well-packed lunch can maximise a child’s concentration and learning ability by sustaining energy levels, promoting gut health, stabilising mood, encouraging healthy growth, and building healthy habits to take into their adult years.

 

How to pack a balanced lunch box:

 

  • Aim to cover the 5 food groups to ensure that your child is receiving all the nutrients they need.
  • For example: fruit, chopped vegetables, small tub of yoghurt or full cream milk, wholegrain sandwich with cheese or meat and salad.
  • Include a protein, such as egg, tofu, tuna, lean meat, baked beans, seeds, nuts (if permitted), dairy.
  • Add a slow-release carbohydrates (wholegrain bread, crackers such as Corn Thins, Vita Wheats, brown rice crackers, dairy foods, fruit, popcorn, pasta spirals). This will help with satiety and ensure a child does not come home starving in the afternoon.
  • Present the same foods in different ways: e.g. cucumber slices, sticks, whole baby cucumbers.
  • Treat foods should only appear sometimes, once every week or two. Consider where your child may be receiving other treats, do they need them in their lunch box too? (This includes baked goods, muesli bars, fruit straps, pretzels, juice, chips, etc.)
  • Involve the children in preparation. You may ask what they would like within reason e.g. strawberries or grapes, popcorn or cheese and crackers. Make a list of foods to try together.
  • Continue to send new foods, even if they come home at first. If they are not offered, your child will never try them. When foods are presented frequently, they become a normal part of the daily diet.
  • If lunch comes home uneaten, offer it as an after-school snack, before offering an alternative.
  • If your child only likes Vegemite sandwiches, that’s totally fine. Try to switch to wholegrain bread, add fruit, veg & dairy or another protein to their lunch boxes for balance.
  • Pack lunch in an insulated container with some ice-bricks.
  • Try freezing yoghurt squeezy packs for a great snack that also keeps lunch cool.

 

Remember that even small changes are positive, so try simple swaps such as:

  • Swap a processed snack such as a fruit strap for a piece of fruit.
  • If vegetables are no longer sent, start by sending one or two pieces each day. Acceptance takes time and with persistence the food will be tasted & even eaten.
  • Swap a less nutritious snack for something better e.g. chips for popcorn, or banana bread for a regular sized piece of raisin bread with cream cheese.
  • This can be a tricky area to navigate for families, please come and see me for advice to help your kids achieve their best growth and learning potential through nutrition.
build a school lunch box: 4 new ideas

It can be challenging encouraging children to eat different foods, but with persistence and consistency, children will try new things, allowing them to reach their growth and learning potential.
Hover over each lunch box photo for details of what is inside. Remember that even small changes are positive, so try simple swaps such as:
– Swap a processed snack for a piece of fruit
– If vegetables are no longer sent, start by sending a single vegetable stick or slice each day, knowing that acceptance takes time and one day it may be tasted or eaten.
– Swap a less nutritious snack for something better e.g chips for popcorn, or a muesli bar for Vita Weats and cheese.
– or banana bread for a regular sized piece of raisin bread with cream cheese.

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THE BALANCED LUNCH BOX: your child’s TOOL KIT FOR LEARNING, PLAY & GROWTH

By Nicole Bando, Family & Paediatric Dietitian & Lactation Consultant

With school on the horizon, it’s time to start thinking about your child’s lunch box. The lunch box provides up to 40% of a child’s daily intake and presents a vital opportunity to fuel rapid growth, development & learning. A well-packed lunch can maximise a child’s concentration and learning ability by sustaining energy levels, promoting gut health, stabilising mood, encouraging healthy growth and building healthy habits to take into their adult years.

How to pack a balanced lunch box:

  • Cover the 5 food groups to ensure that your child is receiving all the nutrients they need.
  • For example: fruit, chopped vegetables, small tub of yoghurt, wholegrain sandwich with cheese and salad.
  • Include protein (egg, tofu, tuna, lean meat, baked beans seeds, nuts (if permitted), dairy) & slow release carbohydrates (wholegrain breads, crackers, dairy foods, fruit, popcorn, pasta spirals, other grains). This will ensure they do not come home starving and over consume during the afternoon and evening.
  • Present the same foods in different ways: e.g. cucumber slices, sticks, whole baby cucumbers
  • Treat foods should only appear sometimes, once every week or two. Consider where your child may be receiving other treats, do they need them in their lunches too? (This includes home baked goods, muesli bars, fruit straps, pretzels, juice, chips, etc.)
  • Involve the children in lunch prep – ask what they would like within reason e.g. carrot or cucumber
  • Continue to send new foods, even if they come home at first. If they are not offered, your child will never try them. Presenting foods frequently helps to normalise them as part of their daily diets.
  • If lunch comes home uneaten, offer as an after school snack, before offering an alternative.
  • If your child only likes Vegemite sandwiches, switch to wholegrain bread, add some fruit, veg & dairy to their lunch boxes for balance.

Remember that even small changes are positive, so try simple swaps such as:

  • Swap a processed snack for a piece of fruit
  • If vegetables are no longer sent, start by sending one or two pieces each day. Acceptance takes time and with persistence the food will be tasted & even eaten.
  • Swap a less nutritious snack for something better e.g chips for popcorn, or banana bread for a regular sized piece of raisin bread with cream cheese.
  • This can be a tricky area to navigate for families, please come and see me for advice to help your kids achieve their best growth and learning potential through nutrition.

For more information, see these links: Nutrition Australia: https://heas.health.vic.gov.au/schools/healthy-lunchboxes
Follow Nicole on Facebook @NicoleBandoAPD or Instagram @nicolebandoapd for more nutritious family ideas
www.nicolebando.com
Image courtesy of https://heas.health.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/pick-mix-lunchbox-poster.pdf

A HEALTHY LUNCHBOX

A balanced, nutritious lunchbox is important to support the growth and development of children. Food is fuel, that children need to learn, concentrate, thrive, play, and grow. A balanced lunchbox can help promote performance (academic, physical, emotional), as well as body image, mood and environmental sustainability. It also helps your child to learn to manage their hunger & fullness cues, a wonderful habit to take through life.

When providing food to children, it is up to the parent to provide:

  1. The right types of food
  2. Regular meals and snacks.

However, it is up to the child to decide:

  1. What to eat
  2. How much to eat

It can take up to 1-15 times for a child to accept new food, which may seem like a lot, however the lunchbox provides the perfect opportunity to introduce new foods. Role modelling and positive food environments play a key role in children trying and accepting new foods, so the school environment can have a positive effect on your child’s eating. To save time, pack lunches the night before, you can even use dinner leftovers packed into a thermos.

Choose an option from boxes 1-4 to create a balanced lunch box.

See below for 3 days of lunchboxes:
Also see our great resources on simple snack swaps and soy/dairy-free alternatives.

By Emma McShane, Dietitian & Nicole Bando, Dietitian, May 2022

10 tips to buildING a healthy lunch box

I have lots of conversations about lunch boxes: here is a great infographic from Nutrition Australia that summarises what should go in to the lunch box each day.

Basic guide:

  • Lunch provides a third of daily requirements, so it’s important.
  • Cover the 5 food groups to ensure that your child is receiving all the nutrients they need to play, grow and learn
  • This will ensure they do not come home starving and over consume in the afternoon/evening.
  • Do not spend your time cutting sandwiches into interesting shapes, it’s soul destroying and will not make a fussy eater less fussy.
  • Present the same foods in different ways: e.g. cucumber slices or sticks or whole baby cucumbers
  • Treat foods are just that and should appear sometimes, once every week or two. Consider where your child may be receiving other treats, do they need them in their lunches too?
  • Involve the children in lunch prep – ask what they would like within reason e.g. carrot or cucumber
  • Continue to send new foods, even if they come home at first. If they are not offered, your child will never try them
  • If parts of lunch are uneaten, offer as an after-school snack before offering other foods
  • This can be a tricky area to navigate for families, please come and see me for advice to help your kids achieve their best growth and learning potential through nutrition.