With the school holidays over, parents and caregivers are back in the swing of making daily lunch boxes for their children and perhaps themselves as a way to ensure healthy choices are made but also to save a few dollars.
Growing children require a range of healthy and enticing foods to steer them away from “grab and go” snacks that are convenient but not necessarily nutritious.
As children spend more days at school than at home, it is so important to pick and chose the right foods and to give them to your child at the right time to ensure that they maintain a balanced diet that is also safe for their teeth.
Sticky and sugary foods are more difficult to be cleaned off of teeth and therefore have more potential to cause decay. You don’t have to give up on food with sugars and starch completely, as they do provide some nutrients, but it is essential to ensure that they are served wisely and the best time is during a meal (preferably under adult supervision).
The Victorian Government and Nutrition Australia have come up with a simple way to create nutritious and enticing lunch boxes.
They suggest a “Pick & Mix” from each of the 6 food groups as indicated in the pic below.
With this simple approach, get your kids involved in picking and packing their own lunch boxes and they’ll be more inclined to eat what they chose!