Back to School: Healthy school lunches
Kids who eat a healthy lunch are ready to learn. While hectic family schedules can be a challenge to manage, taking the stress out of making school lunches is as easy as getting the kids involved and planning ahead. Here are a few simple ideas to get your family started.
Five tips for packing healthy lunches
1. On the weekend, plan school lunches with your kids for the week ahead. Try to include three of the four food groups in every lunch.
2. Stock up on healthy grab-and-go foods like fruit, vegetables, whole grain pita pockets, yogurt, and hard-boiled eggs.
3. Use dinner leftovers to make quick and easy lunches the following day.
4. Prep as much of the lunch as you can the night before. Spend a few extra minutes when preparing dinner to cut up extra veggies and fruit for tomorrow's lunch.
5. Get the kids involved. Let them plan the menu, write the grocery list, shop for food, and make the lunches… with your help of course! Kids who help make and pack their lunch are more likely to eat it too.
Healthy grab-and-go lunch ideas
Stock up on easy-to-grab snacks that can be put together in a pinch for a picnic-style lunch.
• ready-to-eat veggies like carrots and cucumbers
• fruit like apples, bananas, or oranges
• fruit cups (fruit salad packed in juice, applesauce, mandarin oranges, pears, peaches)
• single servings of lower-fat milk or 100% fruit juice
• lower-fat yogurt
• small packets of dried fruit like raisins or cranberries
• whole grain crackers or mini-pitas
• hard-boiled eggs (they keep for one week in the fridge with their shells on)
For more information, visit: Canada.ca/health
Health Canada
Communications and Public Affairs Branch
Ontario Region
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Domenic Carullo 8/27/2017 |
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