School lunches aren’t what they used to be. Many schools have been making efforts to serve meals that taste good and are good for you! That doesn’t necessarily mean your child will choose to eat healthy if he or she is buying lunch at school.
This may be your child’s first chance to make an autonomous decision about the foods he or she will eat. Despite the presence of healthy options in the cafeteria, any child may still opt for less healthy choices. So how do you keep your child from living on hot dogs or French fries during the school day?
- Talk to your child about nutrition. Explain that a healthy lunch will give him or her the energy to keep going through the school day.
- Know what kinds of junk food are going to be available at school. Can the kids buy ice cream, potato chips, or soda? You may want to help your child set limits on this type of food — only buying ice cream twice a week, or drinking diet soda instead of regular soda.
- Watch the food groups. Make sure each meal includes some kind of protein, carbohydrate, and fruit or vegetable.
- Review the week’s menu together. Your school cafeteria may only offer one option; some schools have a main entrée and a daily sandwich to choose from. Your school may even offer a large a la carte menu to shop from. Knowing the menu in advance can help your child make smarter choices.
- Try to balance the week between bringing lunch and buying lunch. Let your child help plan the menu to include things he or she will enjoy eating. Be creative! If your child likes pre-packaged make your own meals like Lunchables, see if you can’t come up with a healthy, home-made version.
- Encourage your child to make small healthy changes. Pick whole wheat bread over white bread and lean meats over fatty ones. Eat more fruits and veggies and fewer cookies and cupcakes. Drink water or milk instead of sugary fruit juice or soda.
- Acknowledge that sometimes your child will make poor choices. Hopefully, if your child knows about good health and good nutrition, it won’t happen often. But there will be days when an unhealthy lunch happens.
- At the end of the day, ask your child what he or she chose for lunch. Ask how it made them feel; it may help a junk food lover realize that their favorite snacks are sapping them of energy.