You can almost hear the school bells ringing in the distance – it’s time for school! Whether your child packs her lunch or buys at school, it’s important to steer her down the right nutritional track. Now is the time to educate yourself and your family on the importance of balanced, whole foods.

Why is lunch so important?

Plain and simple, it just makes sense! Think of your body as a well-running car. In order to make a car work, you must fill it with gasoline. Eating a healthy lunch will help you re-fill your own tank to remain sharp for the rest of the afternoon. When children are offered a well-balanced lunch with lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables you are contributing to their learning skills. You are also helping them to control their behavior and you are supporting a good immune system so that your child stays healthy.

What’s in the healthy lunchbox?

Here are three important ingredients for a healthy lunchbox: (1) it should offer your child balanced, whole foods; (2) your child should help determine what goes into the lunchbox; and (3) that it is fun or offers a bit of surprise.

When providing your child with a variety of foods, you first want to stay clear of highly processed foods. These foods have ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and flavors, processed fats and low quality oils, and are generally most of the snack foods that our children gravitate towards.

Take your child to the grocery store and show her the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and let her pick out ones that she likes or would like to try. Also, most large chain grocery stores now offer a variety of organic foods. Organic products are less processed and use the most natural ingredients possible. Organic practices mean that there are no pesticides, fertilizers and that no genetically modified organisms were used in the production of the food.

The second step would be to get your child involved. Your child’s lunch should include four main parts: a main dish, a fruit or vegetable (a gold star if they pick both!), a snack or treat food, and a beverage. Create a list of options for your child to pick from so there are a variety options for everyday. Here are a few examples to help you think outside the lunchbox:

*If your child doesn’t like a traditional sandwich, try making a wrap with leftover chicken, shredded cheddar cheese and salsa
*Pack a hard-boiled egg with a half of a whole grain bagel with fresh fruit spread
*Serve cut-up fruit with low-fat yogurt to dip
*Pack Hummus with whole-wheat pita chips and fresh vegetables
*Make your own lunchable with leftover meat, cubed cheese, whole-wheat crackers and grapes
*For older children, who have use of a microwave, pack homemade vegetable soup, with crackers and cheese

Meals should include healthy beverages, too, like water, 100% fruit juice or milk. Your job as the parent (or care-giver) is to do a little planning and preparing ahead of time. Decide what your child wants, and make extras for the week on a slow weeknight or during the weekend. This way it takes the guesswork from your busy schedule, too.

The last step is to make lunch fun for your child. What child wouldn’t love some sort of element of surprise in her lunchbox? If you have little ones, place stickers, a love note, a picture of her family, or some little surprise to make her day special. If you have older children, who are responsible for their own lunch, you can still leave a little note with words of encouragement, like “good luck on your quiz today!” And, little dark chocolate candies are a sweet, unexpected treat.

Be an advocate for your child’s school lunch program

With rising food costs, schools have to cut costs with food just like we do in our own homes. It’s important as parents to support your school by encouraging them to make the healthiest choices when it comes to purchasing food without going into debt. See what types of foods that your school is serving and bring attention to those poor quality foods. Make sure the schools are serving proper portion sizes and help them work towards eliminating foods that have partially hydrogenated oils, trans fats, and high fructose corn syrup.

Promote farm to school programs by adding more local produce. Add whole grain breads, pastas and rice and decrease the amounts of refined carbohydrates. And, make sure children are offered enough time to eat. As parents, we also need to be sending our loved ones off to school with the knowledge they need to make the best food choices. Since many schools offer “ala carte” items, make sure your children are picking an apple or banana verses a chewy fruit snacks. This lets us as parents stay in control and helps our children stay healthy and able to learn, grow and succeed to their fullest potential.

Heather Stefan is a Registered Dietitian with more than 7 years experience with a Bachlor’s degree in Dietetics. Heather gained knowledge throughout her career working in both outpatient and inpatient care at two seperate hospitals, writing for local newspapers, and teaching community classes. Her specialities include: weight management using a non-diet approach, lifestyle modification, cardiac care, pre and postnatal maternal health, and diabetes.