Back-to-school means back to packing lunches. The Regional Municipality of York encourages families to pack healthy lunches and snacks by following these tips.
Plan it out
Don’t rush to pack lunches on your way out the door. Take a few minutes the night before to plan and put together lunches for the next day. As a family, prepare a list of favourite lunch and snack foods. If your child is tired of the same old routine, introduce a weekly menu with different choices.
Make it complete
Use Canada’s Food Guide to choose foods from three or four food groups for lunch and one or two food groups for snacks, including at least one fruit or vegetable with each meal and snack.
Your child’s likes and dislikes may change from day-to-day. Add variety by offering different fruits and vegetables each day and offer new foods more than once, even if it’s come home before in their lunch bag.
Get them involved
Let your child help plan, prepare and pack lunches. They will be more excited about eating their lunch if they are involved. Your child can help to:
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Wash and cut fruits and vegetables
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Make sandwiches and wraps
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Wash and fill their reusable water bottle each morning
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Sort food into containers and put it into lunch bags
Skip the juice and sugary drinks
Go for water, milk or fortified soy beverages and keep them cold with two ice packs. Send water in a reusable bottle labelled with your child’s name.
Back-to-school is not just about keeping lunches healthy, it’s also about keeping food safe and developing good dental habits. For more tips, see Back-to-school - don’t let good lunches go bad and Keep your teeth clean when you’re on-the-go.
Have a healthy school year knowing children who eat better, learn better! For information on healthy lunches visit york.ca/nutrition
(Source:The Regional Municipality of York ) |