With the start of the new school year, the great debate about what to put in your kid’s lunchbox looms large. Most of us have been through the frustration of preparing an amazing lunchbox that comes home hardly touched!
Whether your kids take a packed lunch or buy it at school, making sure they get a nutritional meal is your main concern. With growing problems of obesity around the world, it is important that parents get children into healthy eating habits from an early age.
What Should Children Eat?
Kids need maximum nutrition to get through their school day and also to help them grow and develop. There are some main things to remember (taking into consideration food intolerances or allergies) when packing their lunchbox.
Every day children need portions of:
- Fruit
- Vegetables, legumes or beans
- Milk, yoghurt, cheese or alternatives
- Lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nut and sees, or legumes/beans
- Grains such as high-fibre bread, rice, pasta or noodles
- Drink at least 4-5 cups of water a day (very import in the UAE)
There are, of course, a lot of factors to consider that will influence what children eat. Peer group pressure, boredom, or just the presentation can all have an impact. Try to get kids engaged and ask for their input in making their own lunch. Ask them to come up with some fun ideas of things they’d like to try (making sure that it’s healthy- of course!) and let them get involved in making it. Taking ownership of their lunchbox will mean that children are more likely to want to eat it.
If Not You- Then Who?
If you, or your maid, are not making it, there are many others that can help prepare healthy and delicious lunches for your kids.
- Lively
Have created the Hi-School plan for kids and teenagers who want to enjoy healthy food at school and at home. - Leela’s lunches
Make wonderful meals that are delivered to nurseries that are packed full of nutrition and kids will enjoy. - Yum by Mum
Are a healthy, organic food service for babies and toddlers and deliver a number of times a week fresh meals to your door.
And if all this fails, try to ensure other meals, such as breakfast and dinner, are fulfilling your kid’s nutritional needs to help them on the right path to living a healthy lifestyle.
If you’ve got any more tips about creating healthy lunch boxes that your kids are gobbling up – we’d love to hear from you! Tag us in your Instagram and Facebook pictures or drop us a line via email: yalla@yallauae.ae
