Packing a healthy lunch your kid will actually eat can be a challenge. Here are tips for shopping for and preparing nutritious, appealing lunches. Plus, use our ideas to serve up healthy snacks.
Pack a Healthy Lunch ...
Hassle Free! by Emily Webb
Shopping and Preparing Foods
Sandwiches and wraps are staples of a packed lunch, but you don’t have to get stuck in this rut. Rethink wraps by using romaine lettuce leaves, or use cucumber rounds to create mini sandwiches with tuna, salmon or chicken salad. Put leftover pastas or soups in a thermos to keep warm. The fun of the meal can sometimes come from the accompanying sides and snacks. Browse the produce section and the snack aisle for items to serve your kids. “For packaged snacks, we always say pair packaged with unpackaged,” says Katherine Shary, RD, LD, a registered dietitian with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Strong4Life. “Mother Nature offers great options for snacks; bananas and clementines If your kids are are just as quick as packaged.” older, have them When shopping help you prepare packaged snacks, Shary items the night recommends looking for items with the least before, such as amount of ingredients, creating their as well as recognizable own trail mix ingredients. Look for snacks with six grams of or preparing sugar or less and three a bento-style grams of fiber or more. lunchbox to Caroline Burkholder, MS, RD, LD, a dietitian make their at Nourish Family own version of Nutrition, recommends Lunchables. finding snacks with 4-5 grams of protein. Don’t be swayed by the latest products on the market or the labels proclaiming a food is healthy. Some terms are not defined by the Food and Drug Administration, so any product can use them. “Those companies are great at marketing, and the packaging looks super enticing, but if you turn the package over and look at the ingredients, the front of the package means nothing,” Shary says. “For example, it may say it has a fruit or vegetable in it, but the ingredient is usually a powdered vegetable or a fruit juice concentrate, so you’re not getting the same benefits as you would from fruits and veggies. If it seems too good to be true, it usually is. There are hot ways to label foods to entice people to buy them, but they don’t make a huge impact on nutritional value.” Offer a variety of snack options. If your kids are older, have them help you prepare items the night before, such as creating their own trail mix or preparing a bento-style lunchbox to make their own version of Lunchables. Cont’d on page 26
24 Atlanta Parent August 2021
atlantaparent.com
