7 ideas for healthy lunch
Many parents have the question of what food is ideal to send their children for lunch. To resolve your doubts, here we leave you 7 options.
One of the things that is most overlooked among mothers is, what is the ideal breakfast for my children? They almost never think about it, they worry more about school lists, uniforms, backpacks and leaving breakfast behind for their children.** However, your children’s “lunch” is super important because it will allow them to have more energy, they will not fall asleep in class, they will be more active, more awake and more participatory. The objective of a lunch is to ensure your child’s growth, and that comes hand in hand with the child having a productive day at school and not falling asleep.** By sending them a lunch with all well-balanced food groups, we are ensuring that they have adequate growth, as well as preventing nutritional diseases in the short and long term.** Although the key question is, what lunch should I send to my preschool or school-aged child?** You must be aware that a good lunch must have 3 food groups. You should always send as much carbohydrate, protein and lipids or good fats.** But the difference is the portions, for example, in the preschool age that ranges from 3 to 6 years, the child experiences accelerated growth.** Therefore, a child at this age needs higher amounts than a child of school age. As for nutrients, they must be proteins, trying to keep the fat intake low, the snack or a cereal or carbohydrate must be included or it can also be fruit and vegetables must also be included.** * You will think that the child will make fun of the vegetables, but to prevent this from happening, it is advisable to invite the child to help prepare his lunch so that he becomes familiar with these foods, so that the child can decide what he likes and what he doesn’t.** Something else that can be included are carbohydrates in the form of whole wheat bread, pasta, whole wheat crackers or multigrain.** Also in the healthy fat part, you can add snacks such as almonds, walnuts or pistachios, a little cheese or yogurt (make sure it has no added sugar).** Anyway, there are many options that we can play with and that the children may love and this way they are eating a rainbow at lunch time. Because really making a varied, colorful lunch is what makes the child consume it with even more desire. That’s why here we leave you 7 lunch options that you can send to your preschool or school-age child.
7 options for a preschooler
The first option is half a turkey breast sandwich with cherry tomatoes. Sometimes the tomatoes have a slightly sweeter flavor. The other option is boiled egg, but in small slices. Also include whole grain crackers and half a cup of strawberries. The other option is elbows with cream, turkey breast and cheese. * Another is squares of fresh cheese with a mixture of nuts, it can be walnuts, almonds, we can also, sorry, include blueberries in this and cucumber sticks. Another option is chicken strips, these can be dipped in some sauce so that it is not so dry for the little one and also add half a cup of salad and it can have some dressing. Another option is hummus with whole grain crackers and broccoli florets, apart from strips or carrot sticks. And the seventh option is natural yogurt with half a cup of grapes and mixed nuts. In all these options we are including the three food groups. Maybe it’s not exactly the good fat like avocado or olive oil that an adult can consume, but we are getting it through other foods. For example, we can also prepare nuts, almonds, cheese, and dressings at home to make them healthier.
**7 foods for children during school years
For a healthy child, the first option is a whole wheat bread sandwich with turkey breast, be very careful when choosing the sausages. Always choose the one that comes without nitrites, without dyes, vacuum packed and preferably with organic certification. This is the turkey breast that children should eat, accompanied with a little panela cheese and a cup of chopped fruit. The second option is also a peanut butter whole wheat bread sandwich, be careful with the peanut butter. Don’t go buying the typical one full of sugar that are the most commercial brands. Get the sugar-free peanut butter, this is the healthy version.** The third option is tuna with crackers, crackers that are preferably whole wheat as well or failing that they can be the dehydrated toast that they already sell, as well as in small packages as if they were crackers as well, this is another very good option, and an orange in segments. * The fourth option is cubed panela cheese accompanied by jicamas with chili. The fifth option is turkey ham rolls, there can be 4 rolls for a child in school, accompanied by 4 sweet cookies. Try to choose the simplest cookies that do not contain excess sugar. The simplest ones are even the best. The sixth recommendation is a cup of whole grain cereal accompanied by natural yogurt. Make sure yogurt is also reduced in sugar and preferably contains probiotics. And option 7 is squares of cheese, too, accompanied by chopped fruit or chopped vegetables in case the child has a broader palate and really likes vegetables because you could send him a mix of jicama, cucumber, celery, right? So these are 7 options, it is for a week, we know in advance that the children only go to school for 5 days, but hey, we try to share a little more with them so that they have more options when it comes to sending the children.
**Healthy habits
It is very important to encourage the child to grow up with healthy habits so that he or she has a culture of lifelong nutrition and avoids diseases such as obesity, high blood pressure or problems with lipids.** For this, it is important that children eat all types of food, including vegetables. Another trick to get children used to them is to serve them small portions of this type of food.** * Another very important recommendation is to take care of food portions. Do not make a lunch that is too heavy or in large quantities because really recess time is for eating a snack, which will not take more than 10 minutes. What the child really needs is to play, do a little sport, be distracted, and not spend that half hour or the time that recess lasts, so that he is only eating.
Other tips**
It is also important that food is not offered as a reward or that they see it as a punishment.** Or comments like “You did great in school,” “You got such a grade,” “You deserve an ice pop,” or some other food that should not be used that way. The ideal would be that foods and sweets are not prohibited, but also set a guideline for how many times a week they can be consumed without telling them that it is a bad food or a good food. If you want more information on nutrition and health topics, or need advice to find the healthiest eating plan to help you lose weight, click here. Your browser does not support the audio element. **
