Start the School Year With Healthy Lunches

Sending your child back to school this week with a healthy lunch is the best way to start the new academic year.

You are what you eat, says a New York nutritionist, and who wants to be a bag of potato chips or a sugary fruit drink?

Right now, many retail and grocery stores are featuring snack packs – chips, Cheetos, goldfish and the like – on sale, says Stephanie Di Figlia-Peck, a registered dietitian nutritionist with POWER Kids, a weight management program for children and adolescents at Cohen Children’s Medical Center.

“These are all processed snacks. They’re refined grains that have very little fiber,” said Ms. Di Figlia-Peck. “My biggest recommendation for lunch is to have a fiber source. When you have a fiber source at lunch, you’re fuller and more satisfied and you’re not getting hungry. You don’t want to feel that pit-in-your-stomach hunger and then your concentration is not there.”

One way to get your kids to eat fiber-packed vegetables – like baby carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, celery stalks, red pepper strips – is to cut them up and pack them in a plastic container along with a small container of low-fat dip.

“Color is stimulating and inviting, so when we have colorful vegetables and fruits in the lunch box, your child is more likely to go for it,” said Ms. Di Figlia-Peck.

Foods you should pack:

• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Whole grain and multi-grain breads and crackers
• A lean protein source (such as turkey breast, beans or eggs)

Not to pack

• Anything with too much sugar (including fruit drinks, fruit roll-up strips or candy)
• Processed snacks

And, if your child is using the school lunch program, make sure to check the monthly calendar and go over the menu choices with them. One of the biggest obstacles is that kids may not like the healthier fare offered in the cafeteria and opt to skip the noon-time meal.

That can be a costly mistake, says Ms. Di Figlia-Peck.

“They’ll go home famished, craving sweets and carbs (carbohydrates) and may end up eating everything in sight,” she said. “That’s where we have a big problem with this generation right now.”

For healthy tips on what to include in school lunches, as well as other meals, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.