NUTRITIOUS SCHOOL LUNCH BOX IDEAS 

Written by Feba Maryann 

Filling your kid’s lunch box with healthy food helps them stay focused and alert through the hectic school hours by supplying the required nutrition. Well let’s face it, kids are picky eaters and getting them to eat something healthy is no cakewalk. So, it is equally important to make their lunchboxes colourful, fresh, and tempting. 

Here are few tips and suggestions to make your child’s lunch box a perfect one: 

Ask Your Children 

Ask your children about what they would like to have for lunch. Talk to them about it and compare the nutritional values of the foods of their choice. Finally, you both come to consensus and pack the lunch. If your children are old enough, ask them to prepare the lunchbox by themselves. 

What To Put in The Lunchbox? 

These are some nutritious foods which complete your healthy lunchbox:

Vegetables 

Vegetables are packed with vitamins and fibre. Adding fresh colourful vegetables to your lunch box also helps it make it look more attractive. This influences the children to consume more food. You can add either raw or cooked vegetables for lunch. For kids, you can also cut the veggies into shapes, such as stars or faces, to make it more attractive. 

Fruit 

Having fruit for lunch is a great choice. Cut the fruits into large pieces and put them in a box so that it would be easy to eat for the children. Fruits provide them with Vitamins, minerals, fibre and make your child feel full for longer. 

Grains Or Cereal Foods 

Cereals are a great source of carbohydrates to keep your child going throughout the day with the energy they need. They additionally provide proteins, fats, lipids, minerals, vitamins, and enzymes to your child’s diet.  

Meat 

Meat and poultry are great sources of protein and contain other nutrients like vitamins, iodine, zinc, iron, and essential fatty acids. However, do not overload the lunch box with meat, instead pack in small quantities. 

Milk Products 

Add milk products like curd, or cheese in the lunchbox. Curd benefits your health as a supplement to your meal. It also helps you to fight acidity by neutralising the pH in the body. 

Hydration 

During the hot summer days, it is very important that your child stays hydrated. Children require about 2 litres of water each day for healthy and normal functioning of their bodies. However, more often than not, children come home with their half-full water bottles.  

A strategy you could try is to add their favourite fruit slices or herbs to their water bottles. This turns water from a boring, bland drink that just makes you pee a lot, into a tasty, refreshing drink. 

What You Should Not Put in Lunchbox!

Now let’s talk about what not to add in the lunchbox:

Dairy Desserts 

The amount of fats and sugar is high in dairy desserts. These contain high carbohydrates. Having dairy desserts in lunch may lead to health issues for children.  

Sugary Drinks 

Sugary drinks such as fruit juices, or carbonated drinks generally contain large amounts of sugar. This may cause oral problems and even lead up to obesity.  

Processed Foods 

Processed food contains high amounts of calories with very poor nutritional values. Besides, these are digested quickly, and your child may get hungry more often.  Consuming processed foods regularly has been linked with obesity. 

Dried Fruit Bars 

Again, these usually contain a ton of added sugar leading to dental health issues or lifestyle issues if consumed in excess. 

Style Your Lunchbox 

To make the lunchbox look more exciting, you may present the food in a creative way. 

Shape Your food 

Cut the veggies and fruits in different shapes. This attracts the kids towards food. You can take the help of cookie cutters to cut them in perfect and cute shapes. 

Follow Themes 

Follow themes for food. For example, go with Chinese one day and Mexican the other day. Make the lunch look according to the theme. This inculcates the interest of the children towards the food. 

Make Partitions 

Divide the lunch box into sections. Arrange in such a way that one side of it contains vegetables, followed by fruits. Add the meat at one end. This helps in making the lunch box look organised.