Five Steps on How to Eat Healthy at School, By: Dave DePew
Recently, parents have begun to take more notice of the poor nutrition in the schools. Here in California, our Governor has gone as far as to create legislation to force changes in our school system. I, for one, feel it is a great idea and long overdue. However, as a parent, I also feel it necessary to create change immediately where we can. The first step as parents is to take action at home. While parents have little to no control once their kids leave the house and head off to school, it is important to continually reinforce proper nutritional behavior in order to form the habit of healthy nutrition throughout life.
At times it may feel as if we have too much to compete with, but the health of our children is worth the effort. I have created 5 tips that I feel you will find beneficial in helping your child learn to eat healthy at school.
1. Bring a Lunch
The best thing is to get your child in the habit of bringing a lunch. I believe that once you have the opportunity to go over the lunch menu at your child’s school, you will be amazed at how few healthy options you will find. In a way, it’s actually a benefit that some schools don’t provide a school lunch option because of the general unhealthiness of the offerings. I, for one, like the idea of brown-bagging and think it is an easier solution. Nevertheless, go over the lunch menu with your child and if there are days that you can agree that there are well-balanced meals available at school, you may consider allowing your child to purchase a lunch that day. Just don’t do it because it is easier than taking the extra time needed out of the morning to prepare a lunch.
2. Be the One Who Packs the Lunch
Let’s face it. If you let your children pack their lunch, they will head off to school like they just came from trick-or-treating. Simply put, if you pack the lunch, your child is more likely to eat healthy.
3. Agreed-Upon Ingredients Are Key
No one wants to feel forced into eating something they don’t like. You might feel like you have the ability to guilt your children into eating what’s in that bag, but your children are far more resourceful than you realize and will find another alternative. If you pack a lunch full of fruits and veggies they can’t even pronounce, that bag is going in the trash! It is important to sit down with your child and periodically discuses healthy snacks that appeal to them. Trying new foods is always fun, but should be reserved for your opportunity to observe their reaction. This way, you truly know they have tried it and whether or not they will eat it.
4. Go Fresh
It’s not a good idea to rely on pre-packaged lunches in a box. These types of time-savers come at a great cost to your children’s health. Many prepackaged lunch kits are high in sugar, processed flour, fat, and sodium. Many are very low in overall nutritional value, and even those that claim to be healthy because they are fortified with vitamins and are sugar free tend to contain potentially harmful artificial sweeteners and poor quality vitamins that offer minimal benefit due to poor assimilation of those nutrients.
Winning choices tend to be ingredients that include fresh raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts such as apples, oranges, grapes, carrots, broccoli, raisins, mixed fruit in a bag, natural peanut butter, and almonds to name a few.
5. Be Careful NOT to Drink Your Calories
Encourage your child to make healthy food choices in their meals and what they drink. It is best that they drink water every chance they have in order to prevent dehydration. The alarming concern however, is the amount of soda that so many U.S. children drink every day. Insist that your child drink milk or 100% real fruit juice instead of soda. Many sodas are very high in calories and even the low-calorie sodas possess some risk of addiction.
