School dinners are now prepared to strict government guidelines and provide a balanced meal full of vitamins and minerals that is low in fat and salt (well done, Jamie!).
But what about packed lunches? If you send your child to school with a packed lunch what do you put in it? And what do you consider to be a healthy balanced lunch?
The FSA (Food Standards Agency) have stated that 92% of lunchboxes they surveyed contained food that is too high in fat, salt and sugar.
There are hundreds of websites that will give you ideas for healthy lunchboxes. The information is there if you care to look. The following are just two good examples:
These websites will tell you how to put together a healthy lunchbox that includes: starchy carbohydrates (for energy), protein (for muscle repair and growth), dairy (for healthy teeth and bones), fruit and vegetables (for vital vitamins and minerals).
I want to talk about why it is critically important to get it right.
Complex carbohydrates – bread, potatoes, pasta, grains, etc. Carbohydrate is our main energy source and complex carbohydrates such as wholemeal bread keep us fuller and give us energy for longer. White bread does not do that – your children need lots of energy and white bread will not provide it, leaving them hungry, cranky and lethargic.
Protein – eggs, ham, fish. Crucial for repair and growth of muscles and cells, protein will also keep us fuller for longer in combination with carbohydrate. Children are growing and changing at a phenomenal rate and need lots and lots of protein.
Dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc, or a substitute if your child has an intolerance) – provides calcium for healthy teeth and bones. A child’s skeleton is growing and is not fully formed until they are about 25 years old.
Fruit and Vegetables (fresh, dried, tinned, in jelly, in a smoothie!) – minerals and vitamins crucial for all processes within the body from oxygen supply to hormones.
You can endlessly vary a lunchbox with different breads (bagels, pitta, wraps), yogurts, soft cheese, boiled eggs, different sandwich fillings, fresh fruit, carrot sticks, dried fruit, nuts, and on and on. Or keep it the same – as long as its foundations are built on the above nutrients that you put in and the ones that you keep out – salt and saturated fat.
Salt – too much salt leads to hypertension (high blood pressure). Hypertension leads to stroke. Too much saturated fat contributes to coronary heart disease in its various forms which is one of the UK’s biggest killers. Children are not immune to these things because of their age. Arteriosclerosis, the narrowing of the arteries due to formations of fatty plaques, begins at the age of three. Shocking, isn’t it?
So, lose the crisps and the chocolate. Chocolate and crisps are occasional treats not everyday foods. What are our children learning if they expect them everyday? How are they going to manage in adulthood if we have taught them that these foods are an integral part of their diet?
I passionately believe we have to teach our children the right way to eat and we have to get the foundations right while they are young. They are going to do what they like as they get older and they will go off the rails at some point but they will come back to what they have been taught and the habits that they formed in childhood. Also, we will not have damaged the formation of their bones or furred up their arteries in the meantime!
What do you think? Comments and feedback (positive and negative) whole-heartedly welcomed!