Tips for a healthy school lunchbox

Many children prefer to take a lunchbox to school each day, and over 5.5 billion lunchboxes are packed each year in the UK by parents for their children. It is important for growing children to eat a healthy and balanced diet. However, putting together a well-balanced, nutritious lunchbox that is appealing to children can sometimes feel like a challenge for busy parents.

Tips for a healthy lunchbox

• Try to include a variety of vegetables and fruits in the lunchbox. These can be added as colourful and tasty fillings to sandwiches and wraps, chopped up as ‘side dishes’ or included in soups for older children. Research suggests that fruits and vegetables probably reduce the risk of some cancers.

• Swap sugary drinks, such as cola, lemonade and high-sugar squash for sugar-free squash or water. Limit the amount of high calorie snacks such as crisps, chocolate, biscuits and sweets. This is because foods high in sugar and fat can increase your child’s risk of obesity, which is linked to increased cancer risk later in life. Try adding fruit bread or currant buns as a healthier alternative.

• Include wholegrain options for bread, rice and pasta wherever possible. Together with pulses such as beans, these will increase the fibre content of your child’s lunch, which is linked to a reduced risk of cancer.

• Try to reduce the amount of red meat that you include in your child’s lunchbox and try to cut out processed meats such as salami, bacon, hotdogs and hams. Eating processed meat is linked to bowel cancer in adults so it is sensible not to get children into the habit of eating it. Instead of processed meat try using fish such as salmon, tuna or sardines. Other alternatives include turkey or chicken, low-fat cheese, cottage cheese, boiled egg, houmous and salad vegetables.

• It is important to reduce your child’s intake of salt so try replacing salty snacks such as crisps, salted nuts and shop-bought processed snack foods with fresh or dried fruit, seeds or homemade popcorn. Remember many foods that children like such as pizzas, sausages and sauces are high in salt so try to prepare the food for the lunchbox yourself without adding any salt. A diet high in salt is linked to stomach cancer and high blood pressure.

• Keep an eye on the portion size of the food you give to your child in their lunchbox. Small children have small stomachs and can only manage small portion sizes. Large portion sizes may contribute to your child gaining weight.

Switching children on to a healthier packed lunch

Try these tips to keep your child interested in their packed lunch:

• Involve your kids with preparing their lunch – they love to get hands-on with food!

• Cut sandwich bread into different shapes. Try making animal shapes or sandwich stacks. Use pastry cutters for more ideas.

• Kids love dipping: go for a protein-packed bean dip like houmous, cottage cheese or yoghurt in which to dunk vegetable sticks and fruit wedges.

• Keep it varied. Try different fruits and vegetables each week and use different types of wholemeal breads, like tortilla wraps and pittas.

• Think about the presentation. Present vegetables and fruits in interesting ways such as peppers in rings, carrots in batons or broccoli trees. Cube fruits such as pineapple and kiwi, half strawberries and grapes and present in pots.

• Think about different textures – take a break from some regular foods and add soft textures such as cottage cheese with crunchy celery or carrot. Add crisp apple slices (dip in apple juice before packing to avoid browning) in soft pasta salads.

Read more top tips from parents on how to encourage healthy eating in children.