How to make a healthy lunchbox
What children eat during their day at school plays a crucial role in their learning and development. Children consume around 30% of their daily food intake at school and most of this comes from the contents of their lunchbox. Read on to see just how easy it can be to make sure your child is taking a healthy and balanced lunchbox to school.
Pack your child a healthy lunchbox by choosing a variety of foods from each of the five food groups: vegetables, fruits, grains, lean meats and alternatives, and milk products and alternatives.
Make sure to include water as their drink and to pack a refillable water bottle.
Don’t forget food safety – pack an ice brick to keep cold food cold and use a thermos to keep hot food hot.
Other tips to keep in mind include:
- Keep it simple: you don’t need to spend a lot of money or time to create a healthy lunchbox. Use what you have and what is available to you.
- Use fresh instead of packaged where possible: veggie sticks and fresh fruit are just as convenient as grabbing a packet snack.
- Snack sizes: kids generally like smaller snack size portions of food for their little hands and tummy’s! Try to pack foods like mini cucumbers, mini wraps or cut up sandwiches.
- Get the kids involved: don’t try to change everything your child east all at once. Teach them about healthy eating aby getting them involved in the shopping, cooking and packing of their own lunchboxes.
- Use the freezer: try to spend a bit of time cooking a batch of healthy muffins, quiches, meatballs, slices etc. on the weekend and freezing them in individual portions for easy packing into lunchboxes during the week.
Use multigrain bread, rye bread, wholemeal bread or tortillas to create sandwich fingers, pinwheels, rolls or wraps. Try using cookie cutters to create fun shapes with sandwiches.
Rest wet ingredients such as tomato, beetroot, pineapple and cucumber on a paper towel before assembling your sandwich, and place between other toppings such as meat, cheese and lettuce to avoid soggy bread.
Here are some of our favourite healthy lunchbox recipes:
Avocado Salsa and Pita Chips https://qcwacountrykitchens.com.au/recipe/avocado-salsa-and-pita-chips/
Beetroot Hummus Dip https://qcwacountrykitchens.com.au/recipe/beetroot-hummus-dip/
Rainbow Frittata Muffins https://qcwacountrykitchens.com.au/recipe/rainbow-frittata-muffins/
Healthy Sausage Rolls https://qcwacountrykitchens.com.au/recipe/healthy-sausage-rolls/
Quesadillas https://qcwacountrykitchens.com.au/recipe/quesadillas/
The Country Kitchens program is proudly funded by Health and Wellbeing Queensland. We hope you can incorporate the Country Kitchens 5 key messages into your everyday lifestyle to become a healthier and happier you.
5 Key Messages:
- Get more fruit and vegetables into your meals
- Cook at home
- Check you portion size
- Be aware of sugar in your drinks
- Sit less, move more.
