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Children need to eat a variety of foods everyday to be healthy. Parents can give children a healthy school lunch that
tastes great and is good for them too. Many parents say one of the major problems with school lunches is when the
children bring them home! Try to give the kids some choice about what they take for lunch, and if possible, get them
involved with preparing the ‘healthier’ foods. Choosing food for a healthy lunch can be easy.
Start by choosing a variety of foods using the Healthy Eating Pyramid as a guide. This will ensure that your child
is receiving adequate nutrition during the day.
Don’t forget to include mainly breads and cereals (bread, rice, pasta etc), fruit and
vegetables and moderate amounts of dairy and meat or meat alternatives. Try different
things like pasta salads.
Bread is the most common lunch food for kids. A range of breads such as sliced bread
(white, white high fibre, wholemeal, multigrain, rye); pita bread; kebab bread; bread rolls;
and English muffins. Use a variety of fillings to keep children interested.
The dairy products are particularly important, watch that your children are not replacing milk
with juice all the time. Encourage children to drink water throughout the day.
Save sweet and fatty treats for special occasions. In most children’s lives there are more
than enough birthdays, holidays and other special occasions.
Choose healthy snack food options including cheese sticks, canned or fresh fruit, rice cakes, pikelets etc.
Food suggestions
There are lots of food choices available for lunch boxes. However, it can sometimes be difficult to decide which foods
are healthy choices. Suggestions include:
• Fruit - best choices include fresh or tinned fruit. Dried fruit is sticky and high in
sugar, so have it occasionally. Best left out of the lunch box are dried fruit bars and
'straps', which are very high in sugar, low in fibre and stick to children's teeth
causing tooth decay.
• Vegetables - try vegetable sticks with dip, or a small container with mixed
vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, peas and cucumber. Chips and
packets of crisps are best left for parties and special occasions.
• Milk, yoghurt and custard - include a small drink of milk (freeze overnight) wrapped in a cloth in the lunch
box. Fruit yoghurts should be kept cool in an insulated lunch box. Best left out of the lunch box are 'dairy
desserts' and flavoured milks, which are high in sugar.
• Dips, cheese and biscuits - pre-packaged or your own homemade versions of cheese and crackers are fine.
Children enjoy mini packaged cheeses. Avoid sweet dips such as chocolate spreads. 'Oven baked' savoury
biscuits are just as high in salt and fat as chips and best avoided.
• Different breads add interest - include a variety of bread, especially if children begin to lose interest in
sandwiches. Try bread rolls, pita bread, flat bread, bagels, fruit loaf or buns, foccacias, scones, pikelets,
muffins, crumpets, crispbreads, rice cakes or corn thins.
• Vary the fillings - fillings can include yeast or vegetable spreads like vegemite or promite, peanut butter,
cheese (try different types), tuna, egg, sliced cold meats, baked beans, grated carrot and lettuce, chopped
roast meat with pickles or chutney, and avocado. Dips like caviar (taramosalata), eggplant, chickpea
(hommus), cucumber, yoghurt (tzaziki) or spinach also make good spreads. Avoid chocolate spreads, jams
and honey, and fatty meats like salami and strasbourg.
• Muffins and cakes - try making your own muffins and cakes as a great way to include more fruit and
vegetables. Examples include sultana, carrot, zucchini, banana or pumpkin. Offer donuts and creamy cakes at
birthdays and special occasions instead of in lunch boxes.
• Muesli and 'breakfast' bars - almost all 'bars' are too high in sugar to include regularly; however, cereal bars
may be better for teeth than chewy sticky muesli bars. Try to avoid muesli bars and chocolate bars in lunch
boxes. These are expensive and usually stuck together with fats and sugars.
Plan Ahead!
Make planning the food you will include in your child’s lunchbox an activity you do together. They are more likely to eat
the food if they have taken part in choosing what goes in there.
Lunch Ideas
Los niños necesitan comer una variedad de alimentos diarios para crecer saludables. Los padres pueden entregar a
sus hijos un almuerzo saludable y apetitoso.
Muchos padres plantean que uno de los mayores problemas con el almuerzo, es cuando los niños lo llevan de
regreso a casa, trate de darle alternativas de almuerzos y si es posible involúcrelo en la preparación. Seleccionar un
almuerzo saludable pude ser fácil….
• Comience seleccionando una variedad de alimentos acorde a la pirámide alimenticia. Esto garantiza
que su hijo (a) estará recibiendo la nutrición adecuada durante el día.
• No olvide incluir pan y cereales (pan, arroz, pasta, etc.), frutas y vegetales, y moderadas
cantidades de carne. Pruebe con cosas diferentes tales como: ensaladas de pastas.
• El pan es el alimento más común en el almuerzo de los niños. Diferentes tipos de pan: Pan
de molde blanco, de fibra, de centeno, etc.; Pan pita, kebok, rollos y queques. La variedad motiva
a los niños.
• Los productos lácteos son particularmente importantes, esté atento a que su niño
no reemplace la leche por el jugo todo el tiempo. Incentive a sus hijos a tomar agua
durante el día.
• Reserve los dulces y los alimentos con alto contenido de grasa para ocasiones
especiales. A lo largo de la vida de los niños hay suficientes cumpleaños, vacaciones y ocasiones
similares.
• Prefiera meriendas saludables como: Palitos de queso, frutas en conserva o fresca, pastel de arroz,
piklets, etc.
Sugerencias de alimentos
Hay muchas alternativas para el almuerzo. Sin embargo a veces es difícil decidir cuáles son saludables:
Sandwiches Pan/cereal
Rellenos de vegetales Vegetales
Atún u otra carne blanca Carnes
Manzana Frutas
Bebida helada lácteos
Planifique junto a sus hijos el almuerzo que traerá al Colegio. Ellos comen mejor cuando se sienten parte de la
decisión acerca de lo que almorzarán.
• Frutas picadas
• Leche asada
• Leche helada
• Manies, almendras, etc.