Thursday, October 26, 2006
Pack a healthy punch in your child’s lunch
Does your child have the same thing for lunch every day? “Brown bagging it” does not have to be boring – it can be a great opportunity to introduce more variety in your child’s diet.
Lunches do need to be healthy. With the childhood obesity epidemic sweeping the nation, and the fact that lunch supplies one third of your child’s calories for the day, it’s very important that lunch has eye appeal, tastes great and isn’t loaded with the wrong things.
Here are some hints to make lunch time more fun for your kids, and supply the nutrients they need to get through the day:
Involve your children in the lunch-making process – take them to the grocery store with you and ask what healthy foods they would like to have for lunches that week. Make it a game in which they pick out a new fruit or vegetable to try, and come up with a recipe featuring that food. Have your children help in packing or preparing foods for their lunch.
Include a form of protein in each lunch menu. Lean roast turkey or beef; tuna fish; a hard-boiled egg; tofu; soy or reduced-fat cheese; beans, natural peanut butter; nuts; and seeds all supply some protein and can be served in different ways. Remember: lunch does not have to include a “sandwich.” Salads, soups, casseroles, dips, pizza, even beverages can all supply protein and other nutrients. Try chili made with ground turkey and reduced fat cheese; hummus with whole wheat pita chips; pizza with shredded cheese and veggies made on a whole wheat crust; vegetarian lasagna; chef salad; or a shake made with silken tofu or yogurt blended with fruit.
Entice kids into eating vegetables by cutting raw veggies into fun shapes with cookie cutters and serving them with a low fat dip, low fat salad dressing or salsa for dipping. Include leafy greens like baby spinach or romaine lettuce; shredded cabbage or carrots or sliced cucumbers in sandwiches. Try doubling the amount of veggies and halving the amount of meat in casseroles, adding shredded or finely diced veggies to meatloaf mixtures or soups.
Go for whole grains when choosing breads for sandwiches. Look for sandwich bread or rolls that have at least 2 grams of fiber per serving. Keep lunches from becoming boring by varying the types of breads in sandwiches. English muffins, bagels, tortillas and pita bread all come in whole grain varieties and taste great too.
Make snacks/desserts healthy: In lieu of chips or cookies; include low fat pudding/yogurt, dried, fresh or canned fruit in juice, low sodium pretzels, pita or baked potato chips. Have kids assist in making healthy cookies with nuts or raisins or their own trail mix with nuts, seeds and dried fruit.
Set an example: Eat healthy yourself and keep only healthy foods in your kitchen. Children learn best by example, and if they see their parents eating healthy, they are more likely to do the same.
Remember the lunch packing ABC’s:
A: Vitamin A: Good sources include: apricots, carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes.
B: Vitamin B: (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, B6, B12, folate) sources include: Whole grain breads and cereals, meats, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, leafy vegetables, orange juice, cantaloupe.
C: Vitamin C: sweet peppers, pineapple, citrus fruit, leafy vegetables, broccoli, tomatoes and mangoes and Calcium: milk, cheese, yogurt, sardines, oysters, salmon and green vegetables.
Catherine Schneider is a Registered Dietitian in the Food and Nutrition Department at The William W. Backus Hospital. This column, which runs in the Norwich Bulletin newspaper on Tuesdays, should not replace advice or instruction from your personal physician. E-mail Ms. Schneider and all of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org
Lunches do need to be healthy. With the childhood obesity epidemic sweeping the nation, and the fact that lunch supplies one third of your child’s calories for the day, it’s very important that lunch has eye appeal, tastes great and isn’t loaded with the wrong things.
Here are some hints to make lunch time more fun for your kids, and supply the nutrients they need to get through the day:
Involve your children in the lunch-making process – take them to the grocery store with you and ask what healthy foods they would like to have for lunches that week. Make it a game in which they pick out a new fruit or vegetable to try, and come up with a recipe featuring that food. Have your children help in packing or preparing foods for their lunch.
Include a form of protein in each lunch menu. Lean roast turkey or beef; tuna fish; a hard-boiled egg; tofu; soy or reduced-fat cheese; beans, natural peanut butter; nuts; and seeds all supply some protein and can be served in different ways. Remember: lunch does not have to include a “sandwich.” Salads, soups, casseroles, dips, pizza, even beverages can all supply protein and other nutrients. Try chili made with ground turkey and reduced fat cheese; hummus with whole wheat pita chips; pizza with shredded cheese and veggies made on a whole wheat crust; vegetarian lasagna; chef salad; or a shake made with silken tofu or yogurt blended with fruit.
Entice kids into eating vegetables by cutting raw veggies into fun shapes with cookie cutters and serving them with a low fat dip, low fat salad dressing or salsa for dipping. Include leafy greens like baby spinach or romaine lettuce; shredded cabbage or carrots or sliced cucumbers in sandwiches. Try doubling the amount of veggies and halving the amount of meat in casseroles, adding shredded or finely diced veggies to meatloaf mixtures or soups.
Go for whole grains when choosing breads for sandwiches. Look for sandwich bread or rolls that have at least 2 grams of fiber per serving. Keep lunches from becoming boring by varying the types of breads in sandwiches. English muffins, bagels, tortillas and pita bread all come in whole grain varieties and taste great too.
Make snacks/desserts healthy: In lieu of chips or cookies; include low fat pudding/yogurt, dried, fresh or canned fruit in juice, low sodium pretzels, pita or baked potato chips. Have kids assist in making healthy cookies with nuts or raisins or their own trail mix with nuts, seeds and dried fruit.
Set an example: Eat healthy yourself and keep only healthy foods in your kitchen. Children learn best by example, and if they see their parents eating healthy, they are more likely to do the same.
Remember the lunch packing ABC’s:
A: Vitamin A: Good sources include: apricots, carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes.
B: Vitamin B: (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, B6, B12, folate) sources include: Whole grain breads and cereals, meats, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, leafy vegetables, orange juice, cantaloupe.
C: Vitamin C: sweet peppers, pineapple, citrus fruit, leafy vegetables, broccoli, tomatoes and mangoes and Calcium: milk, cheese, yogurt, sardines, oysters, salmon and green vegetables.
Catherine Schneider is a Registered Dietitian in the Food and Nutrition Department at The William W. Backus Hospital. This column, which runs in the Norwich Bulletin newspaper on Tuesdays, should not replace advice or instruction from your personal physician. E-mail Ms. Schneider and all of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org
# posted by ----------------- @ 12:31 PM 
