LiftingtheLid on School Lunch Boxes

School dinners have had a radical overhaul thanks to the efforts of Jamie Oliver; but what about the lunchboxes we pack for our children?

A study by the School Food Trust revealed that over 40% of packed lunches don’t contain a single piece of fruit or vegetable that could count towards children’s five-aday.

It’s just as important to make sure the lunches children take to school provide a healthy, balanced meal - and that means plenty of foods that contain the nutrients children need, and fewer that are high in sugar and saturated fat. Starchy foods are a good source of energy and should make up a third of the lunchbox. But don’t let things get boring. Instead of sandwiches give kids bagels, pitta bread, wraps and baguettes. Use brown, wholemeal, or seeded bread, not white bread. Children often like food they can eat with their fingers, so chop up raw veggies such as carrots or peppers, and give them humous or cottage cheese to dip the veggies in.

Breadsticks and wholemeal crackers are great finger foods and they can be spread with lowfat soft cheese or eaten with reducedfat cheddar and pickles. Replace chocolate bars and cakes with fresh fruit, dried fruit, or unsalted nuts.

Vary the fruit each day and get them to try new things, like kiwi or melon.

You could also make up a tasty fruit salad. Be inventive and encourage your children when they try something new. A balanced packed lunch should contain:

> Protein foodsmeat, fish, eggs, beans, and others.

> A dairy itemcheese or yoghurt.

> Vegetables or salad, and a portion of fruit. It may take a while for your children to get used to a healthier lunchbox, but it will be worth it for their health, so keep trying. You can help by eating a wider range of foods at home, as a family. Reading supermarket food labels can help you to buy healthier foods.

> Starchy foods

- bread, rice, potatoes and pasta, and others.

Chocolate and cakes can be saved for occasional treats - praise is a better reward for your child when they have tried something new.

A WOMAN whose chronic pain was making life unbearable has a new lease on life after discovering a unique therapy.

Louise Downey was a chronic sufferer of Trigeminal Neuralgia/Cluster Headaches – a condition which caused her severe nerve and muscle pain that got “progressively worse” with her struggling with it for a decade.

It impacted her work, at Cardiff and Vale College, along with her quality of life and she found that nothing she tried to relieve her symptoms helped.

“My brother Paul lives in Malaysia and had heard about Master Chia Electromagnetic Acupuncture (Without Needles) Therapy,” said Ms Downey.

“I was reluctant and sceptical at first, with having tried all other treatments and medicines prescribed by Doctors and Neurologist, with little relief, along with the 16-hour flight.”

But her brother and family “persuaded” her until she decided that she had “nothing to lose” and flew to Malaysia where she received 15 days of treatment.

Following the fourth day of treatment she slept for an entire night – something her pain had not previously allowed. By the seventh day her zapping pains had disappeared and by day 11 the pressure in her head lifted.

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” said the former sceptic.

“The treatment is amazing and, as I was pain free, I went into panic mode thinking that I was going to have to travel back and forth to Malaysia for treatment.”