Healthy Eating

Do you think that your lovingly prepared packed lunch would meet the nutritional standards set for lunches for pupils in primary schools? The new standards can guide parents as well as schools in the mission for good nutrition. So here are some guidelines in your quest to keep them healthy AND interested!

Include something from the main four food groups, emphasising the 'superfoods' - starchy staples (bread, other cereals and potato) and fruit and vegetables. Only include one item from the fatty and sugary foods group, and vary it each day so they don't come to expect the same thing every time.

Bread, other cereal and potatoes (as the basis of the lunch): For example: Bread - white, granary or wholemeal as a crusty roll, plain sliced or a soft bap. Bagel, pitta bread, crackers, bread sticks, cold rice (plain or as a salad base, eg. with added sweetcorn), cold pasta (plain or as a salad base, eg. with added raisins and grated carrots), cold cooked potatoes (plain or as a salad base with chopped onions and a yoghurt/mayo mix).

Vegetables and fruit (have at least one and aim for two from this group, perhaps one savoury and one sweet) For example ....Carrot sticks, cucumber slices, baby tomatoes, banana, raisins, apple, satsuma, grapes, dried apricots. Tinned/potted fruit in juice (eg. peaches).

Meat, fish and alternatives (as a filling, spread or dip with breads or mixed with pasta, rice or potatoes and vegetables as a main course salad). For example meat and meat products, lean ham, pork ' or beef, cold cooked low fat/healthy eating sausages/meatballs (if less than 5g fat per 100g). Poultry: chicken and turkey (without skin). Fish: tuna, sardines, mackerel and k fish paste. Offal: low fat i liver paté. Alternatives: hummus, bean paté, egg (hard boiled, grated and mixed with yoghurt and low fat mayonnaise).

Milk and dairy foods (have with main course, as dessert or as a drink). Cheese, yoghurt or fromage frais, milk or milk shake drink.

Fatty and sugary foods. Apart from a tiny amount of fat spread on bread, these need not be part of your child's packed lunch. They are not part of the nutritional standards for school lunches.

Perhaps aim to have just one treat: either a bag of crisps/savoury snack or a cake/bun/sweet pastry. The lower the fat and sugar, the better. Choose a cake/pudding containing fruit (eg. apple, banana) because it's likely to have less fat and sugar, especially if it's homemade.

A word about drinks

Water and milk (semi-skimmed) are by far the best drinks for children. But taking the proverbial horse to water and making it drink are two different things! Peer pressure abides on this one and school policy is probably the only sure way of eliminating any urge to compete for the most flashy carton of juice drink (probably loaded with sugar) or strangest combination of flavourings (never seen a drop of fruit juice) on the market. The 'chilled water from icecubes' trick might work but if all else fails, send a beaker of very dilute sugar free squash or a carton of fresh apple or orange juice. It's trial and error so good luck!

Plan ahead - use the freezer

Use the freezer to save precious time and to help keep food as cool as possible in the lunch box at school during the morning.

Make sandwiches in bulk and freeze them. Take out what you need each morning and they'll be perfectly defrosted by lunch-time. Mix different breads and fillings for variety. Fillings that freeze well are lean meats and poultry, low fat pate, cheese and nut butters. Moist fillings like tuna, cream cheese or egg mayonnaise leave the bread soggy, so are best made fresh. Never freeze salad fillings.

Make good use of left over rice or pasta by tossing in some sweetcorn, peas or raisins, and freezing individual portion-sizes in a sealed bag or a little pot. Don't forget to send a plastic spoon or fork in the lunch box.

For cool refreshing water, put ice cubes in the drinking beaker. They'll serve as an ice pack for a while and be perfectly chilled water by lunch-time.

The key to a healthy packed lunch is balance which, when coupled with variety, should provide your child with a meal that he or she will eat. As any parent will tell you, that in itself is a bonus these days!