Healthy & Balanced Lunchboxes!
Healthy and balanced lunchboxes are always an important part of taking care of your little ones. Being healthy is also an important part of parenting and Review Critic will help you be the healthiest parent you can be! It’s really important for your children to have a balanced lunchbox with many options available – especially when it comes to snacks. So what should make up lunchboxes? Let’s take a look!
There should always be full meals available for lunch that contain a healthy dose of carbohydrates, proteins, vegetables and fruits. Of course, water needs to be provided at all times. Healthy meal options for school should be items like spaghetti bolognese with broccoli, omelet with toast and olive oil and salmon with brown rice and cauliflower. These are healthy options that offer a lot of variety. But what about snacks? Since children are running around all day, they require a lot of energy as they burn up calories fast – so snacks are very important!
Snacks should consist of a lot of different textures. They can include baked sweet potato chips, blocks of feta and yellow cheese, carrot and celery fingers with a side dip of guacamole or hummus. Sugarless dried fruit are also a good option. Just be aware to cut snacks in half if they are too small and can cause a potential hazard such as choking. Examples of this are baby tomatoes, grapes and olives. The drinks you provide should be plain mineral water or fruit juice mixed with water.
Let’s look at these meals and snacks and see what effect they have on the body:
Protein is really important because it maintains and replaces the tissues in the body. Muscles, organs and the immune system are mainly made out of protein. The body uses protein for really important tasks such as making hemoglobin – that is the part of the red blood cells that have the very special job of carrying oxygen to every part of the body. Proteins are also used to build cardiac muscle. If there is not enough protein in the diet, headaches may occur. Examples of protein are:
Legumes (such as black beans and lentils)
There are two types of carbohydrates – simple and complex. They usually have a lot of sugar in them and aren’t very healthy. Complex carbohydrates, or starches, include a lot more nutrients for the body. Fiber, found inside complex carbohydrates, helps the digestive system work well. You fill find these in:
Therefore, if you want your children to have the best of both, they should be incorporated everyday into their meals and snacks. Children can also be very fussy when it comes to food so by giving a lot of variety, there are many options for them not to go hungry. If your child is not eating it’s very important to speak to their teacher and ask them to monitor this and to see if there is any food that they have a strong dislike for or attraction to. This will also indicate what your child’s body needs as children’s food cravings are often very instinctual.
At the end of the day it’s important to have the peace of mind that your children are well fed and nourished. This will offer opportunities each day for them to grow into stronger little adults. Take the time, make the effort and make sure they are fed the healthiest way possible that will offer variety, nutrients and great taste! After all, food is there to be enjoyed.