Packing Healthy School Lunches

The ready made lunches available today may be quick, but they are far from healthy if used on a regular basis. The typical cheese and lunchmeat lunch package gets 37 percent of its calories from fat – not including the high sugar drink and dessert.

So what healthy food can you pack that may actually be interesting to your child? Why don’t you buy a small container and put some low-fat ranch dressing in it. Cut some celery and carrot sticks to go along for dipping. Low-fat yogurt is a delicious dip for fruit and is a healthy lunch treat as well.

String cheese is a fun food to pack in a child’s lunch. Or your child might enjoy a flour tortilla and several things to wrap in it. Consider shredded chicken from the previous night’s meal, cheese, low-fat dressing, ground nuts, sesame seeds, shaved carrot… just take a look in the fridge for ideas. And with younger children, almost any food is great if you cut it in interesting shapes.

Containers may be a nice novelty to make food look interesting. Carrot coins actually look yummier if they are put in a really “cool” container. Anything that looks exciting to open can entice a child to eat what is inside.